


Crewe's snippet stories

by Creweemmaeec11



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, One Shot Collection, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other, Short Stories, Snippet Collection, Snippets, Soft Hero, Soft villain, Superpowers, Villains, Will Add Tags As We Go, flirty hero, flustered hero, flustered villain, hero x villain, heros, ticklish villain, villain x hero - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 34,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28741521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creweemmaeec11/pseuds/Creweemmaeec11
Summary: I post a bunch of short snippet stories over on my tumblr now, (@Creweemmaeec11) but it occurred to me that a bunch of you don't have a tumblr, so for all you awesome people, this is just for you! This is going to be all my snippets that I post on tumblr, re-posted here in one big book for you to enjoy!If one of these snippets has a part 2, it will be posted as another chapter of the same name, followed by #2 (etc)If you'd like to see any of these snippets continued, or would like to request a prompt for me, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do!Love you guys <3
Comments: 73
Kudos: 19





	1. Kind Touch

“I said knock it off” the villain hissed, turning their head as far away from the heros hand as they could, jaw clenched.

The hand that was carding through their hair didnt stop, instead, the hero scratched their scalp lightly.

The villain cursed the shiver of pleasure that coarsed through them, knowing the hero could probably see the goosebumps on their arms.

They pinned their eyes shut, willing themselves to ignore the sensation, but the action only served to make them feel sleepier.

Suddenly they heard a light chuckling above them.

“Your adorable,” they mused, continuing to run their fingers through the villains hair, “your trying so hard to act like you hate this, yet your fighting with yourself to even stay awake all of a sudden,”

The villains face went red, they felt like a deer caught in headlights. They tugged uselessly at their wrists that were still locked down near their sides. They were still far to weak to even sit up in the bed they were in. The only time their wrists got unlocked was to eat, because the villain absolutely * _refused_ * to let the hero feed them. They wished they were unlocked now, so they could at least cover their blush, if not stop this nonsense entirely.

The villain shook their head, trying to dislodge the hand atop it.

“Oh just stop it and relax already, its obvious how touch starved you are, and how much you enjoy this,”

The villain blushed more, sputtering, which caused the hero to grin.

“Awe your blushing!”

That didnt help the red in their face go away.

“I am not! I-”

Whatever retort the villain was about to give died in their throat when another shiver went through them as the hero brushed gently across their burning cheek, their words coming out as a quiet squeak sound as the hero raised an eyebrow.

The villain pinned their eyes shut again, taking a deep breath, trying to compose themselves.

The hero watched the internal conflict play across the villains face. They sighed.

“Is admitting you like physical affection and human contact that terrible?” They asked, going back to playing with the others hair.

“Yes!” The villain snapped, before realizing that by saying that, they basically confirmed it. They stared off into nothingness, “its-”

“Embarrassing?” The hero finished.

The villain glanced at them before looking away. They instinctively tugged at their wrists again.

“Stop it, your going to hurt yourself more,” the hero said, reaching out with their spare hand, to set it atop the villains gently.

All this touch was gentle, kind, caring and the villain didnt know how to deal with it. They almost would have welcomed actually being tortured, the pain was something the could at least understand.

“And its not embarrassing to have a craving for physical affection because your human, no matter how much you try to pretend and act like you aren’t,”

The villain bristled slightly, shaking their head.

“Yes, * _you are,_ *” The hero said in a serious yet soft tone, brushing the villains hair out of their face and tucking it behind their ear. The villain had never wanted to shrink back and hide so much in their life. “And, unfortunately for you, your nemesis has seen through your facade,” they joked, continuing to comb through the villains hair affectionately, “I’ve been able to see through it for a while, but you getting yourself this hurt just to save a bunch of people really sealed the deal,”

The villain finally turned their head, looking at the hero in surprise. Had they really been that obvious?

No, the hero was wrong, the villain * _was_ * a bad person. This was Stockholm syndrome kicking in or something, they didn’t enjoy affection they-

“Hey,” the hero said softly, caressing the villains cheek once, gently, to drag them out of their thoughts. Apperantly their face gave them away.

“Whatever mental rabbit hole you just went down, your either wrong, or dont have to worry about it. Okay?”

The villain subconsciously tugged their wrists again. They wanted to retort, say something snappy, but their brain had just been fog sense the incident. The hero said had said something about a bad concussion, and the meds they were on weren’t helping.

Which left them stuck, in this helpless position, playing tug-of-war between their ego and the instinct to lean into the soft touch, which they couldnt remeber the last time they’d experienced.

“Listen, your still hurt, badly, so luckily, or unluckily for you, your stuck here with me, and my affectionate, kind, caring hospitality, where your safe, until your better. I’m not going to turn you into your police. So if you were worried about that-”

The villain shook their head, “your wrong. About me. I’m not some good person with a heart. Saving those people was an accident and-”

“Seriously?” The hero gave them a disbelieving, unimpressed look, “your not seriously going to try to convince me of that are you? Do you really think of yourself like that? As heartless?”

The villain froze, caught off guard, eyes wide.

The hero hummed, reaching forward to place a hand on the others chest, above their heart.

The villains breath hitched, heart pounding out of nowhere. They looked at the hero with wide, confused eyes.

“Now I’m no doctor, but I do believe that’s a heart beat, which means-” the pulled their hand back, “your not heartless,” the hero smirked.

A blush rose to the villains cheeks, unsure how to respond to such a thing, or how casually the hero could touch them, without thinking twice.

“Luckiky, I have a while to convince you at least, sense your stuck with me,”

“So you kidnap me, hold me against my will, and then what? Arent I supposed to be the villain? What happens after I’m better?”

“I’m not sure,” the hero mused, ignoring the villains other comments. They weren’t going to be goated into a fight, “Im not going to keep you here, if that’s what your thinking. Hopefully we can figure something out while your here,”

The villain just rolled their eyes, turning their head away again.

Immediately, they felt a hand land in their hair again, and they couldnt help the way their eyes closed. They would deny the small sigh that managed to escape their mouth despite their best efforts. They would blame the pain killers the hero had convinced them to take for the fact they were falling asleep.

“Your way too cute for your own good when you finially let yourself relax, you know that?”

The villains eyes snapped open landing on the hero in shock, not believing what they’d just heard. The hero giggled, relishing in the reaction. For someone so good, they sure enjoyed making the villain squirm. They rested their head on their free hand, looking at the other with such a fond, gentle expression it made the villains insides twist.

They were looking at the villain like they were watching a puppy doing something cute.

“You also look lovely blushing. Flustered is an endearing look on you, ya know? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush like this before” they teased.

The villains eyes widened more, face * _burning_ *. This wasnt happening. People didnt just, say things like that to the villain! If they did, they said it mockingly, certainly not sincerely.

“I blame the drugs you made me take,” the villain replied through gritted teeth, looking away again.

“For the fact that your flustered or that your adorable?” The hero smirked, tilting their head and taking their hand back to pull the blanket up higher on the villans chest, like they were tucking in a toddler.

“Both!”

“So you * _admit_ * your flustered and adorable?”

“Wha-? No! That’s not-” the villain huffed, only going redder, “just- shut up,”

The hero laughed,“alright alright, I’ll stop. You should try to go back to sleep now anyway,” they said as the stood up.

“I don’t know if I can, everything still hurts,” the villain muttered.

Shock flashed across the heros face for a moment at their honesty, before they smiled and swiftly sat back down, their eyes shining.

“Well luckily for you, I happen to know something that helps”

Before the villain could ask, a hand landed in their hair again, scratching at their scalp gently.

The villain tried to glare, but they only received an innocent smile in return. They gave a defeated sigh, closing their eyes, “whatever, I’m just too tired to argue with you,”

The hero gave a quite chuckle, “sure, that’s the only reason,”

“I hate you,” the villain muttered, eyes still closed.

“No you don’t, but even if you did, that’s just too bad, cuz your gunna be stuck with me for a while,”

They tried to mutter some response, but the hero just shushed them quietly.

In the end, they found they didnt really mind being stuck with the hero after all.


	2. The Gift of Panic Pt #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hero gives a villain a birthday present. The reaction isn't what they expected!

“I got you something,” the hero mused as they walked into the specialized jail cell for the villain.

It was the normal bars of a jail with a force field around it, seperated into it’s own room with a computer controlled and locked door. High security.

“What?” The villain asked, surprised and curious, getting up from the bed and walking over towards the bars.

“Yep, I got you a present,” the hero replied, flicking the force field off before continuing towards the other. Normally, the force field was always on, food and any other objects were passed through a small automated system that bypassed it through the forcefeild.

Strangely, at this point, the hero trusted the villain not to try anything, considering they were right there, even if the forcefeild was down.

They knew the villain was smart, smart enough to know anything they tried right now wouldnt work.

Still, the hero had been tense the first few times they turned it off to have a better face to face conversation, but after all these months of visits, it was natural.

It started when the hero realized all the guards were terrified of the villain, and because of their powers, they wernt allowed out of the cell * _ever_ *, and while the cell was admittedly much bigger then a normal jail cell, it left the villain with barely any interaction.

The hero felt pretty bad about it, considering they were the one responsible for putting them there. Even if it was because of the villains actions, they would be lying if they didnt still feel responsible for them.

So, the hero began dropping by for a chat every couple of days, whenever they had free time.

At first, the villain had been very hostile, either ignoring them entirely, or just giving short, snide responses. But over the next few weeks, the villain began to relax, started conversing more, and occasionally even joking around. They still kept their walls up without fail, never opening up about themselves or giving any details into their personal life.

Despite this, the hero actually began to look forward to their conversations, and even if the villain refused to admit it, the hero saw the spark of excitement in their eyes when they came in.

“A present…” the villain drawled uncertainly, raising an eyebrow and watching the hero walk up and hand a box through the bars, wrapped in wrapping paper and even topped with a bow.

The villain took another step forward, taking the present from the other before taking a few steps back again. They looked down at it in their hands for a moment, before looking up at the hero again.

“Why…?”

“Don’t you know what the date is today?”

“Uh… not really… I dont exactly have a calendar in here.

"I’ll give you a hint, its april, ”

“uh… they havent invented a new holiday have they? What year is it?” The villain joked with a small smirk.

“Its your birthday, doofus, happy birthday,”

Suddenly the villain flinched, violently, a sharp gasp for air came from their lungs, as if the hero had physically punched the oxygen out of them. They practically threw the gift, seemingly wanting to get it out of their hands as quickly as possible, landing it infront of them towards the hero. They stumbled back, clutching their hands to their chest, almost hugging themselves as they curled up.

The worst part of their reaction was their eyes. The fear in them, the hero expected the shock, but they would have never expected fear, esspecially not such intense terror. It was something they’d never seen on the villain before, but the look of fear on their face was so raw, it was heart breaking.

“What-”

“Stop. Don’t. You-” the villain said in between breaths as if they’d begun hyperventilating slightly, “Just-”

Their gaze fell to the present on the floor for a moment, before they pinned their eyes shut and spun around, back to both the present and the hero as they seemed to struggle to control their breathing.

“Just take it, take it and leave, just-” They shook their head, as if trying to clear the jumbled thoughts in their mind, taking a deep breath.

“Hey, it’s okay…” the hero said softly behind them, causing them to whirl around at the closeness of the voice. The hero was * _in_ * their cell. When had that happened?!

They gasped again, scrambling back away from the hero and falling back onto their bed, continuing to scramble untill their back was pressed to the cold stone wall.

The heros eyes widened, holding up their hands in a peaceful gesture. They had never seen the villain even slightly scared before, but right now the looked absolutely terrified, mortified, horrified, any other adjectives the hero could think of!

The villain stared at them with wide, wild eyes, still breathing quickly as they pulled their knees up to their chest.

“It’s okay,” the hero tried again, taking a slow step forward. They knew what a panic attack looked like, and this was certainly what appeared to be happening.

The villain clutched their shirt, grasping and twisting fistfuls of the fabric above their chest, taking deep breaths as they tried to calm themselves.

The hero kept taking slow steps forwards, until they managed to gently slip themselves to sit on the bed next to the other. They sat quietly while the villain got themselves calmed, having realized them saying anything was making it worse.

Slowly, very slowly, the hero placed a hand on the villain’s back, who had curled up away from the wall. Just to remind them that they weren’t alone. The villan flinched and gasped, but didnt fight when the hero wrapped an arm around them.

“Are you alright?”

“Fine.” The villan muttered, before sighing, burying their face in their knees, “god how embarrassing-”

“Hey, no, none of that, I’m the only one here, and I dont care, I have panic attacks every now and then,”

The villains head shot up at that, looking at the hero with wide eyes.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry for-”

“Oh shut up, dont apologize for trying to be nice and getting me something. You hero types are pathetic,” they replied, but their face held their signature, joking smirk.

The smirk quickly fell as they glanced back to the present on the floor, staring at it warily,

“What… what is it?”

“Its just some stuff I thought would help keep you entertained in here, you kept complaining you were bored,”

“I’d love to point out who’s fault it is that I’m * _in here_ * to begin with but…” they trailed off as their gaze fell back to the gift.

“Alright, im just going to ignore that one. Talk to me, what just happened?”

“Panic attack, you said it yourself-”

“You know that’s not what I meant,”

The villain sighed. The arm around their shoulders pulled them closer. The villain still didnt lean into it, but they didnt fight it either.

After a moment of silence, the villain finially spoke.


	3. The Gift of Panic Pt #2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original on Tumblr: @Creweemmaeec11
> 
> Part two of a villain in jail receiving a gift from a hero.

After a moment of silence, the villain finially spoke.

“The last birthday present I got…” they started in a quiet, almost whispered tone, “was a bomb…”

“What!?” the hero replied in shock.

“Someone I cared about… though it would be funny to open my present before me as a joke…” they took a deep breath, “they didn’t…”

Their voice cracked before they trailed off, and the quickly wiped at their face, abruptly standing up, keeping their back to the hero.

“I don’t even know…” the hero replied, trailing off as well. They didnt know what to say, how to respond, what to do. What could they?

“Its fine I just,” the villain started, before taking a deep, recomposing breath, “Sorry, I’ve never told anyone about it,”

“No no, it’s okay. God, I can’t even imagine…”

“Its alright, I got my revenge in the end,” the villain replied, turning back toward the hero.

“Really? How?”

The villain looked at them with a confused expression, before it shifted into an amused smirk, “For legal reasons, and because I don’t want to prolong my time in here, I probably shouldn’t tell you,”

The hero laughed, “fair point. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you got justice, even if it probably isn’t the kind of justice I’d agree with,”

“Really? You think I deserve justice?”

“Of course, I think everyone does,” the hero said in confusion, as if that was obvious.

The villain huffed a half laugh, giving a small smile, “I need to remember who I’m talking to,”

Both their gazes fell back to the long discarded present on the floor.

“I can take it, if you’d like, but-”

“No no, it’s okay, I… I cant believe the words ‘I trust you’ are coming out of my mouth but I at least trust you didnt gift me a bomb,”

“I don’t know if I’m hurt or flattered,”

The villain laughed again, walking over to hesitantly pick up the gift. They turned back to face the hero, holding the box with both hands as they just stared at it.

“The question still remains…” they drawled, before looking up at the hero that was still sat on the bed, “Why would you get me a birthday present?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why would you get me a gift? Why would you do something like that? For me? I dont think I’m very… deserving of a gift. Especially from you. Unless whatever is in here is some form of mockery- I mean- I guess I shouldn’t assume…”

Their eyes dimmed slightly, as if they realized the only thing that could be in the box was something mocking, a heros form of bragging that they had won.

“Okay now I’m definitely hurt,”

The villain looked back up at them.

“Your my friend, I realized your birthday was coming up, so I thought back on our previous conversations, and tried to get something I thought youd like,” the hero replied, moving to sit it a more casual position, “There wasnt any more thought put into it then that,”

The villain was now staring at them with wide eyes.

They blinked, seemingly trying to process what they’d just heard.

“I… have questions…”

The hero smirked, tilting their head as a prompt to continue, amused at the normally silver tounged villain being thrown so off their game by something so simple.

“Friend?” The villain responded almost instantly.

“Oh I’m sorry, what would you call this? Marriage?”

“I’d call this me tolerating your visits, whenever you decide to drop by because you’ve nothing better to do,”

“Maybe at first, but I’ve seen the way you recently light up whenever I come in,”

“Then you’ve * _recently_ * begun going blind. I’d suggest seeing an optometrist,”

The hero laughed, “also, for your information, I make time for these visits, I dont just swing by cuz 'I’m bored’,”

The villain squinted at that, “You… make time… for me?”

“Yes, that’s what friends do,”

“I am not your friend,” the villain replied stubbornly.

“Oh yeah? When was the last time you let someone hug you? I have to have passed the friend mark by now,”

The villain blushed, realizing they * _had_ * allowed the hero to hug them, and they couldnt remeber the last time anyone else had even tried, nevermind been * _allowed_ *.

“this is a dysfunctional work relationship at best”

The hero snorted another laugh at that.

The villain glanced down at the box once more.

Finially they knelt down onto the floor, placing the box infront of them. The stared at it for a few seconds, hands shaking slightly as they hovered over it, before taking a deep breath and tearing the wrapping off.

It was a simple brown box with a lid.

The villain chuckled under their breath slightly at that.

“What?” The hero questioned, not seeing anything funny.

“No, sorry I just-, had a thought,”

The hero raised an eyebrow at them.

“I just thought how funny it would be if after all this it turned out to be empty, but that would be cruel, even for-”

Their sentence came to a halt as the lid came off and they saw what was inside.

Now their wasnt anything incredible inside, it wasnt like they had gotten a new iphone, but there was * _many_ * things inside.

They looked up at the hero, mouth open slightly, not even attempting to hide their shock.

The hero just smiled.

Slowly, the villain began taking things out of the box. A book of puzzles, like crosswords and word searches, a small sketch book and a pack of markers to go with them. A small puzzle, showing the picture of a fox, which was the villains favourite animal. There was also a rubix cube that was already messed up, and a set of other small puzzles. At the bottom, there were two more boxes, one much bigger then the other.

The bigger box contained the Harry Potter book series. The second, contained a small device that looked like an airpod, along with earbuds.

It was fascinating for the hero to watch the villain open their gift. One would expect a villain to be clumsy, rushed, or aggressive, ripping into their present, but they were the opposite. They removed every item slowly, delicately, like it was a peice of glass that could break, examining it with the same gentleness before laying it down carefully beside them.

When they had opened the last item, they looked back up at the hero, completely flabbergasted, jaw on the floor and eyes wide.

The hero laughed quietly, “do you like it?”

“I…” the villain sat back onto their heels from where they were kneeling, looking over the items like they were unsure what to do now, “what…”

They blinked, gathering their thoughts, “how did you…? I mean what-”

They picked up the puzzle as they spoke.

“That’s your favourite animal right? A fox? Now I wasnt sure what kind of fox but-”

“How?” The villain asked, almost breathlessly, looking back at the hero.

“How did I know that? You mentioned it, once. I was talking about being a cat or dog person, and you said youd always been a fox person, something about them being 'sly and underestimated, yet smart enough to know when to strike’” they recited, making quotations in the air.

The villains jaw hit the floor again.

“That was actually one of the first things you ever told me about yourself,”

“You bothered… to remeber that…?” they muttered under their breath.

“Yep. The rubix cube is because you bragged to me once you were good at puzzles and could do one, and I didn’t believe you,” the hero smirked, “still don’t,”

The villain huffed a small laugh, before glancing over at the books.

“the puzzle book and sketch book are just something to do, I know markers arnt ideal, but obviously I wasnt allowed to give you any pencils or pens,”

The villain nodded in understanding.

“the books are because I was talking about game of thrones one day, and you said youd always preferred Harry Potter,”

The villain smiled, and shook their head at that, chuckling, “I’ve never actually read them, I just wanted to disagree with you,” they joked.

They both laughed.

“What’s this?” The villain asked, picking up the small device with the ear buds.

“Its a little mini portable radio. I didnt know what songs you liked, and obviously, I’m not allowed to give you anything with acsess to the internet, but at least now you can choose what station you want,”

The villain sat back again, looking over everything with the same stunned, almost lost expression.

“You… remebered all those little details… and here I thought I was doing a good job at not letting anything about myself slip…”

“Oh you have been, trying to figure out what to get you was near impossible, but I managed to remeber a couple little things youd mentioned,”

They picked up the rubix cube, playing with it aimlessly, “I… don’t even know what to say…”

“Well, most people would say thankyou,”

The villain shook their head, “that dosent seem like enough. I… I cant even remeber the last time someone gave me a gift, nevermind one without strings attached, and esspecially nevermind one with actual thought put into it,”

“I get the feeling you need better friends,” the hero joked, trying to keep the mood light.

“Yeah well, I guess I’m on the right track, I’ve already got one,” they replied, but couldnt bring themselves to look at the hero while they did.

The hero in question was lit up like a christmas tree, heart swelling happily in their chest.

“I hate to cut this short, but don’t have long today, I’m going to have to get going, I just wanted to make sure I got to swing by today,” the hero said, looking at their watch.

“Oh! Yeah, of course, you -”

“Do not have 'more important’ things to do, I simply have * _other_ * things I need to do,” the hero interrupted sternly, giving the villain, who blushed, a pointed look.

“yeah, that.”

The villain stood up, standing awkwardly in the middle of all their gifts, watching the hero leave through the finger print locked cell door. They approached the switch to turn on the force field, when the villain stopped them.

“Oh, hey, wait!”

“What’s up?” The hero asked.

Suddenly the villain tossed something through the bars with effortless perfect aim. The hero caught it, and this time it was their jaw that hit the floor.

It was a completed rubix cube.

They looked back at the villain in shock, who laughed, giving them a real, large, and although greatly amused, no less genuine smile. The first real, true smile they’d ever seen on the villain. They couldnt help but stare in awe for a moment.

“What..?” The villain asked after a moment.

The hero shook their head to snap them out of it, “sorry! It’s just, that’s the first time I think I’ve ever seen you actually smile,”

Instantly the smile vanished as the villain steeled their features, crossing their arms and shrugging, trying to ignore the blush on their face, “yeah well, that’s cuz it dosent happen often, so,”

“I’m honored,”

“Shut up,”

The hero laughed, before looking at the cube in their hand again,“this is like, actually really impressive though, that was so fast!”

The villain shrugged again, “the 3 by 3 ones are easy, the 4 by 4 or 5 ones arnt that much more difficult, the 6 and 7 ones take me a while though, 8 is an actual challenge, and I dont think I’ve ever done above that before,”

The hero was still staring at them wide eyed.

The villain just chuckled and shrugged at them again, “I was an outcast kid, had alot of time on my hands. Anyway, get going,”

“Yeah, right,” the hero replied, tossing the cube back before flicking on the force field. They began walking toward the door, before the villain spoke out to them one last time,

“By the way… thank you… really…”

The hero smiled, “your welcome,” they replied, before disappearing out the door.

The next time they visited, they would make sure to bring a 9 by 9 rubix cube, and a fox calendar.


	4. Seducing a Genius Pt#1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A role reversal, where the Villain is the shy easily flustered one and the hero is the flirty smooth talker!

“For someone with such an incredible mind, it’s not fair you got such a beautiful face to go with it”

The villain spun around at that, having not known the hero was even there at all. They stared at them for a moment.

The villain, while they could defend themselves, they weren’t a fighter. They relied on their inventions to do that for them. They could be smooth, when they knew they were at a big advantage, but they were never a confident person either. They had their men deal with most of the face to face, especially with heros.

This hero, however, who was known as the Echo (for their ability to use echo-location, as well as manipulate sound in other ways) seemed to always manage to get that face to face conversation.

That wasnt the biggest problem. The worst part was that the hero * _flirted_ * with them. They were such a smooth talker, and ego be damned, it * _worked_ *. The villain found themselves a heart-pounding, flustered mess every time.

“What- what are you doing?” The villain asked nervously, taking a step back. They quickly hit a button that concealed the machine they’d just been tinkering with.

“Shouldn't I be asking you that, gorgeous?” The hero purred, stalking forward, dragging a pointed finger along the table next to them aimlessly as they moved. They eyed the now covered machine with amusement.

The villain continued to step back warily as the hero got closer. The hero looked at them like they were prey, stalking forward like a predator, eyes gleaming almost hungrily.

Internally, the villain found themselves wishing the hero would look at them like that and mean it. They felt their face heat up.

As if that would ever happen.

“Awe! Your blushing!” The hero cooed.

“Shut up,”

“You don’t mean that” the hero drawled, with a maddeningly knowing expression on their face, “do you really want me to stop?”

Well… no… but that wasn’t the point.

“I havent done anything, not- not recently. So why are you here? I haven't done anything that should have caught your attention,”

“Oh darling,” the hero replied in the same, sultry tone, quickly sliding through two of the tables, grinning at the villain's change of subject, “you’ve had my attention since I first laid eyes on you”

The villain continued to back up, trying to keep their distance from the advancing hero.

“Tell me,” the hero mused, creeping closer, “what has that beautiful brain of yours been up to lately?”

“This,” Suddenly, the villain pressed a button, and red lasers shot down from the ceiling, creating a perfect circle around the hero, who froze.

The villain gave a small breath of relief, feeling a bit like a mouse that had caught a lion.

“Well done~” the hero said, looking impressed, “if you wanted to get kinky you should have just asked,”

The villain blushed, doing their best to ignore their fluttering heart, “why are you here?”

“I can’t swing by just to see how my favourite villain is doing sense they escaped prison?”

“Its been almost two months, and I haven't done anything, so no. There are plenty of active villains who would take priority for your bosses in terms of catching. I imagine someone who hasn't done anything recently would be low down on your list. Which means your here for something,”

“I guess they don’t call you a genius for nothing,” the hero replied, almost fondly.

“Nobody calls me a-” the villain replied, before stopping themselves. The hero gave another maddening smirk.

“Why are you here?” The villain tried again, crossing their arms. The hero tilted their head, looking them up and down for a moment as if taking in the sight. The intensity of their gaze made the villain want to squirm.

“I will hurt you,” the villain tried when they didnt get an answer.

They weren’t expecting the heros face to light in a sly smirk, eyes gleaming. They took a step closer to the lasers in front of them, “oh really?” They purred, “is that a threat or a promise?”

The villain cursed the blush that settled in their face.

“Oooo, a promise is it? Shouldn’t you take me to dinner first?” The hero continued, only encouraged by the villains red cheeks.

“I’m serious!” The villain snapped, trying to hide the frustrated, flustered mess the hero had so easily turned them in to.

“No your not, we both know that,” the hero replied in a more normal tone, “you’ve never tortured anybody, you’ve never hurt anyone for the fun of it, hell I’ve been able to tell you * _avoid_ * hurting people when you can. So we both know your not gunna hurt little old meee,”

Their tone dipped back into the their teasing one towards the end. The villain let out a frustrated huff because, well, the hero was right.

Sure, they had built more then one ‘weapon of mass destruction,’ but, if you looked at them closely, most of them were dusty! They were used as bargaining chips, threats when they had nothing else to resort too.

“Maybe not,” the villain admitted, “but I’m more then willing to walk out that door, shut off the lights, and leave you here, just like that all night,”

They may have an ethical code, but they were far from a saint.

The heros eyes widened, ever so slightly, but they smoothed it over quickly, “really? you’d trust me in your lab all night alone? I’m honoured,”

“I trust my security systems,” the villain retorted, crossing their arms and raising a challenging eyebrow.

“Fineeee, we’ll skip the foreplay. I * _am_ * here on business, but for the record, that doesn’t mean I can’t do pleasure afterwards~~”

The villain felt the small smile creep onto their lips before they immediately steeled their expression, doing their best to ignore the pounding in their chest.

Unluckily for them, the hero caught their reaction.

“Ooo, your into that idea are you?”

“I’m * _into_ * the idea of going to bed at some point tonight!”

“Am I invited~?”

“Business, hero! Business!,” the villain snapped, a complete flustered mess from all the * _feelings_ * swirling around in their chest.

The hero laughed, a genuine, amused laugh, “god, your so much fun to tease,” they giggled, which didnt help the villain’s situation any, “but okay, fine, we were hoping you could help us,”


	5. Seducing a Genius Pt#2

Suddenly the villain’s world stilled.

“Excuse me!?” They replied in shock.

The hero gave them a smile, “I’m sure you’ve heard of Vanish?”

The villain nodded. Vanish was a new villain in town with the ability to teleport.

“They are causing us a LOT of problems, and theyve got big plans coming up soon that will endanger hundreds,”

“And… you came to me…?”

The hero shrugged, “we’re running out of time, and we’re completely out of options and ideas,”

“Why would you come to me? Who’s idea was it to come to me? Surely not the hero agency?”

“Nope,” the hero shook their head, “it was my idea to come to you. I figured if anyone was smart enough to figure it out, it would be you,”

The villains heart was suddenly pounding in their chest again.

“What’s the problem?” The villain replied, trying their best to keep their voice steady.

“We know when and where vanish will be. We know how to get through his guards, and get to him. The problem, is he just teleports away before we are able to get close. We need a way to stop him from doing so long enough to get him in the power suppressing handcuffs,”

The villains expression shifted from confused, to baffled, finishing on a mix between dumbstruck and disappointed.

“We were hoping you could build us something that could help,”

“Question,” the villain mused, leaning back against one of the lab counters and crossing thier arms, “what’s in it for me?”

“An acquaintance of mine suggested I offer you a pardon,”

“That acquaintance of yours is an idiot,” the villain replied in an amused, yet unimpressed tone.

The hero snorted out a startled laugh.

“Seriously, you people managed to keep me behind bars for a total of what, three, almost four days? Jail isnt a big threat. Plus, a pardon only covers my past crimes, not my future ones,”

“Yep, that’s about what I told them, though I promised them I would try,”

The villain sighed, picking up a circuit board and a small screwdriver and began tinkering. They would keep the main project covered, but they could work on the parts.

“I hope your smart enough to have come with a better offer then that?”

“Watching you work with your hands is such a turn on,”

The villain sputtered, fumbling with the circuit that was in their hands for a moment.

It should be against the law the hero fought to uphold to state things like that so casually.

For being one of the ‘good guys’, they sure enjoyed watching the villain squirm.

The hero immediately laughed, reveling in the reactions they got.

The villain tried to give them an annoyed look, but it wasnt very effective due to the blush on their cheeks.

“I was thinking I’d offer to take you out on a date, but, we both know I’d do that anyway,” they winked, clasping their hands behind their back.

The villains heart refused to stop pounding in their chest. It fluttered at the idea, but deep down, they knew the hero was just toying with them. They mentally kicked themselves for falling for such an obvious trap.

“So can we get to your actual offer already?” The villain huffed, setting their tools down and crossing their arms.

“Sure. I don’t have one,”

It took the villain a moment to process that.

“I-… what?”

“Tell me what you want in exchange. I’ll see if we can make it happen,”

The villain hummed, thinking over the others words.

They could pull the classic villain card and tell the hero to beg, but they had a feeling the hero would be all too willing.

The villain didnt need money. There was no legal benefits the hero could grant them. Any information they could want, they could hack to get themselves. But maybe…

“I vile of his blood,” the villain said as they turned to look at the hero.

“What!?”

“That’s my price. If I help you catch him, once hes caught, I want a vile of his blood,”

“Why would you want that?”

“I’m afraid that’s none of your concern. Do we have a deal?”

“Very well. What will you be able to do for us?”

“Educate you for a start,”

“Ooo, what’s the lesson teach? I was always a bad student~”

The villain ignored them. They explained that all the heros were idiots, because the villain couldnt just teleport anywhere. There was a reason they always carried a spyglass with them, and that was because they could only teleport to where they could * _see_ *. Take away their ability to see, you take away their ability to teleport.

“Your a genius,” the hero replied in awe.

“You’ve said,” the villain muttered under their breath, but, hero was just rambling.

“of course! That makes so much sense! Though, now what?” The hero drawled, tone dropping at the last question.

“What do you mean?”

“Well as much as I’d love to stay here and stare into your eyes all night long, your eventually going to have to let me out of here,” they purred, bouncing on their toes.

The villain smirked. Before the hero could question them, the floor opened beneath them, and the next thing they knew they were dumped into the alley next to the building.

“You clever dog,” the hero mused as they got up and dusted themselves off, “I cant wait till I see you next time,”


	6. The Gift of Panic Pt #3

“D7”

“Miss,”

“What!? How!?” The hero exclaimed, looking over their battle ship board.

The villain chuckled as they absentmindedly continued whatever they were doing in their sketchbook. They were on their bed, leaned back against their head board, knees bent, sketchbook against their thighs. Their battleship board sat next to them as they barely paid it any attention.

“I told you, your predictable. I even wrote down all my placements before the round started to prove I wasnt cheating,”

“How am I predictable!? I’m not predictable!”

“Your last ship starts at B2 and ends at B5,” the villain mused as they continued scribbling. They hadn’t even hit that ship yet.

“Your cheating, I don’t know how, but you must be,”

The villain laughed at that, “I’m really not,” they explained, watching out of the corner of their eye as the hero cleaned up the game, unallowed to leave the villain with such small, sharp pieces.

Silence stretched until the hero had finished. Once they were done, they came to sit sideways at the end of the bed, leaning against the cold stone wall.

“I have a question, and I want you to be honest with me,” the hero said as they settled.

“You know I wont promise that,” the villain replied.

“Just try? Hear me out?”

“I suppose,”

“You let me catch you, didn’t you?”

Suddenly the sound of the marker against the paper stopped, the villains head snapped up, looking at the hero in front of them in shock.

“You wanted to get caught. You wanted to go to jail,” the hero stated matter of factly.

“I-”

“Your smart,” the hero continued, slightly louder to cut the villain off, before returning to normal volume, “like, freaky smart, not only that but your powerful. The day you were arrested, you pretty much waited to be caught in the act. You barely put up a fight. You pled guilty immediately, and you went to jail with no fuss at all. Things went SO smoothly, they barely had this cell built and ready for you in time. On top of all that, I have very little doubt you could have broken out of here if you wanted to. I’m not sure how, but like I said, your smart. Esspecially sense I’ve started coming into your cell regularily,” they looked over at the villain, who was staring at them wide-eyed, blushing slightly, “I mean, both you and I know that door isnt locked right now” they gestured to the fingerprint scanning door to the cell, “the lazer field isnt powered on, nothing is stopping you from using your powers in here. You could easily zap me, run out, and your smart enough to figure it out from there,”

The villain looked at the door, but instead of twitching like they were thinking about it, they sank further into their bed.

“Yet, all of that considered, you don’t escape. Havent even tried.”

The villain opened their mouth to say something, but closed it again, unsure what to say.

“A couple times before this, after I walked out, the guard told me I was insane, walking into your cell so casually, sheild down, not even locking the door. They told me I had to be cocky, thinking you wouldnt try anything. I told them you wouldn’t. They told me to just watch. That you were just playing the waiting game, gaining my trust slowly, until the time was right,”

“I’m not-”

“I know,” the hero assured, “ever sense, every visit was like they were just waiting to prove me wrong. Finially, last time I was leaving, the guards asked me how I knew you weren’t going to try anything, and I… well I didn’t have an answer. I just knew. I went home and thought about it, and everything clicked,” they looked over and the villain, “you want to be in here.”

Silence stretched while the hero just stared at the villain, who was processing. After a moment, the villain let out a defeated sounding sigh, deflating from their rigid posture.

“Yes.” They replied simply, staring at the page before them, not sparing the hero a glance.

“Why?”

The villain gave another sigh, dropping their head to hit the sketchbook in front of them for a moment, before taking a deep breath and sitting back up.

“It wasn’t… well… your right… I… I wanted to be caught, to be put in jail. Though I was only supposed to be in here for 3 to 5 months, depending,”

“Depending on?”

“I was in a bad spot, buissness wise. I can’t give you many details, but there was a deal, a big one, and it went sour. The blame got put wrongly onto my head. People close to me were starting to double cross me, and I suddenly didnt trust anyone. More and more was being blamed on me, and I knew if I didn’t do something, my head was going to be the next to roll,”

“So, prison was your solution?”

“Partly. The plan went perfectly. I led you guys to me, and got caught with a bunch of evidence. The evidence was enough to incriminate * _me_ * for a couple of minor crimes. In those files, however, was plenty more to lead police to all of my big enemies. I got to sit in here, totally safe, while the police cleaned up my enemies for me. You remeber that string of mass criminal arrests a couple months ago?”

“That was all you,” the hero replied in disbelief.

“Bingo,” the villain replied in a satisfied tone, giving a small smirk as they went back to scribbling, “The plan was to sit in here until they were all put away, then get back out there and reconstruct the crumbs of whatever was left,”

“But… that was months ago now, and you havent broken out,”

“I was planning to,”

“You * _were_ *? So then what happened? What changed your plans?”

The marker stilled against the paper once again. The hero caught the villain glance at them for a moment, before look away again.

They took a deep breath, “you,” the villain replied, “* _you_ * happened,”

The hero felt themselves blush slightly, “what… what do you mean?”

“The guards would have been right, months ago, you know. Even had a day picked out and everything. It just happened to be the same say you came in with that fucking birthday present,” They huffed, “I couldn’t just… not after…” they took another deep breath, “I * _already_ * felt bad about it, which isn’t normal to begin with, but you were right, I had started looking forward to your visits,”

The hero caught the villain glance at them, but they couldnt hold the gaze, and it fell back to the book in their lap, “I told myself next time, next time, so many times. Yet you kept sinking your claws in, worming your way into this black heart of mine * _somehow_ *.”

The villain took another breath, “I eventually gave up lying to myself, and just realized that, sense I only had another two months, I may as well just wait it out, because that came with benefits anyway, and I was already this far along,” they sighed, tipping their head back and looking at the hero finially, smirking, “in summary, it’s your fault, you ruined everything. Did I mention how much I hate you?” They joked.

The hero however, was looking at them with the biggest, most genuine, wholesome, fond smile ever, causing the villain’s face to go red.

“Oh wipe that look of your face, it was practical. If I wait it out, I get good behavior and all that. I also get better sleep in here, not having to worry about being stabbed before I wake up is nice,”

“Mhm, sure,” the hero hummed sarcastically.

“Did I mention I hate you?”

“So many times I think you’ve canceled it out by now, which means you actually like me,”

“Oh * _shut_ * up!” the villain groaned, head hitting the sketchbook in their lap once more as they listened to the heros giggles.

“Annnnd there goes my reputation,” the villain groaned, “just one more thing you’ve ruined now,”

“You know,” the hero mused, “you get out next week,”


	7. Kind touch #2

The villain jolted up, gasping for air as they awoke from their nightmare. They pinned their eyes shut, trying to calm their rapid breathing.

Suddenly they heard the door open and the light flick on.

They turned their head away instinctively, trying to hide their face.

“Hey,” the hero greeted in a soft voice, “everything okay? Nightmares again?”

The villain did their best to glare, but it utterly failed; they ended up looking more pleading than anything.

The hero gave them a sympathetic smile, sitting down next to them in the chair adjacent to their single bed.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

The villain gave a small shake of their head, pulling on their still trapped wrists.

Their breath hitched, body going rigid as they felt the hero place their hand on their back, gliding it up and down gently, trying to soothe them.

Despite their best efforts, the touch still made them shiver.

“How are you still so touch starved?” The hero asked quietly, the question meant more for themselves than for the villain.

Regardless, the villain still flinched, ducking their head down as if they were ashamed.

“I’m a villain,” they grumbled, “we don’t exactly go around giving out hugs,”

“Alright, I have an idea,” the hero said as they stood up, unlocking the villain's wrists.

“Uhm, what are you-” The villain asked in confusion as they were helped to their feet.

“Come on,” The hero stated matter of factly, leaving no room to argue. The villain simply followed in confusion, blushing at the contact of the hand that was still holding theirs as the hero guided them.

They were led through a hallway, and into what looked like the heros bedroom.

But… that couldn't be right… could it? Because why would the villain be here?

“Uhm… what’s…?” The villain muttered as the hero let go of their hand to do something at their closet. When they turned around, they had an extra pillow.

“Come on, your sleeping with me tonight,” they explained, as if that was a normal thing to say.

“* _excuse me?!_ *” The villain replied in shock.

“Oh, come on, the last time you were having nightmares, I started playing with your hair while you were asleep, and you immediately relaxed,”

“* _What!?_ *” the villain sputtered, face bright red.

The hero chuckled slightly, “yep, so having me here will help with both your nightmares and how touch starved you are, and having you here will help me sleep because I won’t be worried about you, it’s a win-win,”

The villain stared, both their mind and body frozen as they tried to process what the hero was saying.

The hero had sense crawled into bed under the covers, and pulled them back for the villain to climb in next to them. They stared at the other, waiting.

“You're just… going to sleep next to me… with my hands unlocked?” The villain managed to question.

The hero simply raised an eyebrow, “do I * _need_ * to lock up your hands?”

“I- well- no, but-”

“Exactly, so come here already,” the hero said plainly, opening their arms.

The villain froze, staring. They knew this was wrong, they were a villain!

But gods, were they tired, it had been so long since they had a good night's sleep, and the heros arms looked so warm and safe.

They shouldn’t, they shouldn’t look * _safe_ * when you were the * _enemy_ *. The villain knew that, but all the soft, kind touches the past week had been such a nice change. It was something they hadn’t known they’d needed so badly.

Maybe it was the concussion talking. Maybe they could blame it on exhaustion, but just because this was wrong, didn't mean much to a villain. Villains were known to do wrong.

Finally, something caved, and the villain stepped forward hesitantly. They didn't crawl into the hero's arms, however, and simply sat down on the bed, before laying down next to them slowly to avoid a head rush.

“Rude,” the hero joked, looking at their still empty arms.

“I’m just too tired to argue with you and aren't about to pass up the opportunity to sleep without being in cuffs,” the villain defended stubbornly, “that doesn't mean I’m about to crawl into your arms like a lovesick puppy and- hey!-”

They were cut off by an arm wrapping underneath them and pulling them closer. They were still too physically weak to do much more than feebly push their hands against the hero, trying to push away.

They had been too surprised to speak, and before they could, the hero spoke up.

“Relax, I won’t force you if your * _actually_ * uncomfortable with it, but I have a feeling this is another one of those things you're telling me not to do cuz of this ‘big, bad, heartless’ persona you're trying to keep up,”

The hero gave them a pointed look, which made the villain feel almost stupid, for not wanting to * _cuddle_ * like a * _child_ *, for being embarrassed about such a thing. As if the villain was being silly for making any kind of big deal over this.

But… well… the hero was right. The hero felt so warm next to them, their arm around their back, hand on their side, waiting for the villain to make the final move of settling against their chest.

There was a war going on inside the villain's head, a battle between ego, pride, reputation and the craving of comfort, the warmth, safety. And right now, such things as pride seemed such meaningless things, because, after a moment of consideration, the villain hesitantly settled down, resting their head against the hero's chest.

The second they gave in, they felt the hero pull them closer, holding them tightly against their chest and side. With their other hand, they threw the blankets over them and turned off the light.

The villain's chest swirled with more feelings than they’d ever remembered feeling at once. They thanked god for the fact the hero was above them, and that the lights were off, so the hero couldn't see just how red their face was.

At the same time, they didn't regret giving in for a second, because they couldn’t remember the last time they were this comfortable, if they’d ever been before. They could hear the hero's heartbeat, starting to regret every time they’d made it race.

After a couple of moments of silence, and simply listening to each others breathing, the villain felt the hand on their back move. And while at first, the villain missed the contact, when the hand landed in their hair, they found they didn’t really mind.

Unbeknownst to the villain, the hero was using their night vision, watching the villain idly trace the patterns on the blanket with the biggest, fondest smile on their face. They tipped their head against the villains, feeling them freeze for a moment, but as soon as the hero scratched the villain's scalp gently, they immediately melted against then again.

It should be illegal for someone to be this cute.


	8. The Gift of Panic Pt #4

“You know,” the hero mused, “you get out next week,”

“Yeah,”

“What are you gonna do? When you get out I mean?”

“You're asking if I’m still going to be a villain,”

“I- well, yeah, I mean, I don’t want to fight one of my friends,”

The villain sighed, “look,” they started, sitting up a bit, “I’m not thrilled about the idea of fighting with the only person who’s gotten me a present since I was six, but if I’m not a villain, what else would I be? That’s who I am. Villainy and crime is the only life I’ve ever know, the only thing I’m good at. And while admittedly yes, I may have developed a soft spot for * _you_ *, I still couldn’t give a damn about pretty much anyone else,”

The hero hummed quietly, thinking over what the other had said. It struck them, suddenly, how comfortable they’d gotten being close to someone like the villain.

The villain was someone who didn’t care about the well being of people. They had no problem deceiving others, committing crimes.

Their real nature showed in select moments while the pair had interacted. When the villain would look up, and the hero could see the empty voids in their eyes where compassion and sympathy should reside. The way the villain had to keep themselves from showing their true amusement when the hero told them about bad things that had happened in the recent news.

Whenever the hero failed, the villain would try to comfort them to some degree, but they never cared for the lives lost. Whether the hero failed to save one person or five, their reaction wouldn't change. As if the number of civilian lives lost was obsolete, a simple number, that left them completely unfazed.

Still, despite it all, the hero had also seen those same empty eyes spark with interest at certain topics, flare with anger when someone hurt the hero.

Which meant, underneath it all, there was still a person, who was now a friend. If they developed a soft spot for them, who’s to say they couldn't do it for others?

“Do we really… have to go back to being enemies?” The hero finally asked sadly.

“I wouldn’t say so for sure. Its not like we crossed paths all that often prior to my arrest anyway. I’ve always been more of a business man than a violent villain out to make some sort of ‘statement’,” they explained, making quotations with their hands at the word 'statement’.

The hero chuckled quietly, “I guess,” they shrugged, “Thinking about it now, I doubt I’d actually have any chance beating you in a fight anyway,”

The villain's eyes snapped up. They squinted slightly, studying the hero for a moment.

“You never used your power whenever we fought. I’ve never even seen you use it, and you still won every time other than when you let me arrest you,”

“Okay, hold on,” the villain said, closing their sketchbook and laying it aside, “you say I won 'every time’, but we only fought maybe 3 other times, all of which, yes, I suppose I won but, what does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m just saying, you won without even using your power, meaning if you did use it, I wouldn’t stand a chance anyway,”

The villain stared at them, dumbstruck, “I’m… not really sure what you want me to say to that? I suppose for what it’s worth, nobody has won when my powers were involved, so,”

The hero stayed quiet, lost in thought. The villain continued to study them, until something seemed to click.

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize…”

“What?”

“You, and all the authorities, you have no idea what my powers are, do you?”

The hero shook their head.

“Well… that explains the jail cell,” they replied with a smirk.

“What?” The hero asked for the second time.

“You have no idea how right you are when you say I could easily escape here if I wanted to,” the villain replied with a sly smile, “if your planning on being here the day I’m released, I can show you,”

“I was already planning on being there, but now I have to be for sure,”

“Going back to before, we… I mean, we can still keep contact, if that’s what you're worried about,”

The hero looked at them in surprise, having assumed a villain wouldn't want to be associated with a hero once they were out.

The villain blushed and shrugged, “I’m new to this whole friends thing, I’m just assuming that’s what they do,”

The hero smiled.

Maybe this wouldnt be so bad after all.


	9. Seducing a Genius Pt#3

“Well, well, what do we have here?” The hero purred as they entered into the cell the villain was still tied down in. The hero was behind the villain, out of their view, but they immediately recognized that voice. Their heart began racing out of nowhere.

“What? I don’t even get a hello?” The voice asked, closer than it was before.

“What are you doing here?” The villain asked, half groaning. This was going to mess up all their plans-

“I’m being your knight in shining armour, obviously,” The hero replied, resting their forearms on the back of the villain’s chair and leaning against, it, voice now coming from above the villain.

“I’m in this predicament in the first place because you and your team were too incompetent to keep Vanish locked up,”

“Hmm, perhaps,” The hero hummed. The villain could hear their voice getting closer until they could feel the other’s breath on their ear, “Surely there’s some way I can make it up to you?” They purred, causing goosebumps to rise across the villain’s skin. They felt their face heat up.

“You’re wasting time, Vanish is-”

“Back in handcuffs and currently being escorted back to prison by the rest of my team,” The hero cut them off, “A little birdy told me someone was back here, so I stayed behind to investigate,” They drawled as they finally came into the villain’s view.

“So, does that mean you’re going to release me now?” The villain asked, raising an eyebrow and tugging at the chains the held their forearms to the chair.

“Now, wheres the fun in that?”

“So you’ve got a pair of handcuffs for me to then?” The villain assumed.

The hero in front of them shrugged, “I mean, I’m sure we can find a pair around here if you’re into that sort of thing,” With that, the hero stepped over and settled themselves down into the villain’s lap, “That isn’t what I had in mind though~.”

The villain’s heart leapt up into their throat. They could feel their pulse racing and their face heating up. Their breath hitched as they shrunk back slightly.

“Wh-why?”

“Cuz this is a rare opportunity that you can’t run away from me,” The hero replied, raising their hand trace a featherlight finger over the villain’s cheekbone and down to their jaw, “I know you don’t dislike me, I always ask if you want me to stop, and you avoid the question, but that doesn’t mean you make it easy either,”

The villain swallowed thickly, trying to look anywhere but the hero.

“You look so lovely when your this shade of red,” The hero purred, continuing to trace the villain’s facial features as their other hand drew lazy circles along the villain’s side. The touch was intoxicating and so easily distracting. It was getting harder and harder to think.

“Why do you do this?” The villain managed to choke out.

“What do you mean?”

“This! I- just- what- what do you gain from toying with me like this!?” The villain strained, before pinning their eyes shut and shaking their head, “What’s the point of playing with my emotions and messing with my head? I just don’t understand why!-”

“Hey, hey, whoa,” The hero interrupted. Their tone was soft yet serious, with hints of concern as both their hands stilled, resting on the villain’s sides, “You think I’m just toying with you?”

Their eyes met for a moment before the villain looked away, unable to hold the eye contact, “I- well… yeah? Why else would you-?”

Suddenly both their words and thoughts came to a screeching halt as the hero leaned in and brought their lips together passionately. The villain immediately melted, eyes closing as they relaxed into it.

What felt like all too soon, the hero pulled away.

“Maybe because I like you?” The hero said, and it took the villain a second the remember their previous question, “How did a genius such as yourself never consider that option?” The asked in a light, joking tone, giving the villain a gentle smile.

“It- uh- seemed the less likely prospect,”

The hero chuckled lightly.

Before either of them could reply further, there was an explosion in the distance, causing the room to shake slightly.

In one swift, quick action, the villain found themselves free of all their chains as the hero stood up, looking at their communication device.

“We’ll talk later, get to safety; things are going south,” The hero said, a note of urgency in their tone before taking off.

“Of course it is,” the villain mused, still stunned by everything. For once, they found themselves looking forward to ‘later’.


	10. I Employ Them to Pretend

“Oh god, you’ve got to be kidding me,” The villain groaned as they watched the hero get tossed into their cell by one of the supervillain’s henchmen. 

“Oh, nice to see you too,” The hero snapped back as they caught their balance. 

“Why did I get stuck with them when the hero cell is over there?” The villain asked, pointing to the other cell across the room with four other heroes, all of who had their mouths and wrists taped. 

“Because you two are already acquainted, aren’t you? Besides, they are the superhero,” the supervillain drawled, walking over to one of the control panels, “Plus, that cell is full, and I want everyone here to witness me blowing up the city!” They laughed. 

“You can’t do this!” The hero yelped desperately. 

“Oooooh, but I can!!!” The supervillain chirped happily, “And now that I have all of you here to enjoy this with me, I can begin! You see, when I was a boy-" 

"Nobody cares!” The villain groaned, “spare us the pathetic sob story, what’s happening?" 

The hero shot them a glare. A look that said, ‘what are you thinking provoking this mad man!?’. 

The hero had no idea. 

The supervillain huffed, "Fine, you spoilsport,”

They made their way over to a different control panel, “You see this button? This is the button that starts the countdown for the bomb under city hall!” They practically skipped over to a different panel, hitting another button, causing all the screens to light up with various video feeds of the city hall and surrounding area, “All those poor innocent civilians. Just look at them, going about their day without a clue. They have no idea things are just moments away from going boom! Tell me, heros, how does it feel being helpless to not only stop me, but even warn them!? Oh, it must be maddening!” they taunted, turning toward the gagged and restrained heros in the other cage. 

The villain could see the hero next to them fighting uselessly to break out of their handcuffs. The villain’s hands were free. 

“I wonder if any of them will survive the initial blast? Do you think-" 

"My god, you must love the sound of your own voice,” the villain groaned, rolling their eyes as they walked up the bars, “Tell me, when the bomb goes off, is it going to make a 'boom’ sound, or is there a speaker that plays a recording of you saying 'boom’?" 

The supervillain glared angrily, "Let’s find out, shall we?” they asked, before slamming their hand down onto the red button. Immediately, red lights began flashing, and a large 3-minute timer popped up onto one of the screens. 

“NO! wait!” The hero cried, “Surely there’s something you want!?" 

The supervillain laughed, making their way over toward the villain and hero’s cage, one of their henchmen following behind them. 

"There’s nothing I want more than this," 

"Tell me,” The villain piped up, “Why a bomb? It seems a bit cliche, don’t you think?" 

"Perhaps," 

"Surely, someone as intelligent as you could have thought of something more interesting," 

The hero could practically see the anger coming off the superhero in waves now as they stomped over, right up to their cell bars. The henchmen behind them trailing. 

"You sure know how to run your mouth-" 

"Unless-” The villain drawled like they hadn’t heard the other, “Unless, of course, a bomb is all you had? It was a hand me down, wasn’t it?” They asked in amusement. 

“You listen here you impotent-” the supervillain started, but the villain cut them off again. 

“Nope, that was all I needed,” With that, the hit something on their watch, and it fired, a taser shooting out and hitting the supervillain square in the chest. The henchmen behind them raised their batton and swung down, connecting with the back of the supervillain’s skull and sending them cascading forward, head colliding with the metal bars of the cell. 

The villain sucked in a sharp breath, “ooo, that’s going to leave a mark,”

The henchmen walked up and unlocked the cell before tossing the villain the keys as they stepped over the unconscious supervillain on the floor. 

“Well done,” the villain complimented, “Chain them up to the pipes over there," 

"yes, sir,” The henchmen replied, handcuffing the supervillain and dragging them over to the wall. The other henchmen in the room immediately opened the door and called down the hall, “Boss is out! You know your instructions!" 

"Wait, what!?” The hero snapped, brain finally catching up, “I thought you worked for him!” they sputtered, looking between the henchmen and the supervillain, who was slowly waking up.

“That’s the point when I employ them to pretend,” The villain replied aimlessly, sitting down onto the office chair and pushing off the floor, rolling over to one of the control panels. They motioned for one of their henchmen, “Unlock their cuffs so they can go cut their friends free," 

"Yes, sir,” they replied, making their way over to the hero.

“You too late!” The supervillain yelled as they finally came too, “You can’t stop it!" 

"Yeah, I’m sure,” the villain muttered as they typed furiously on the console. They raised their watch, “Run command alpha, reverb, 28-42, 1 1 6 23 80, back rewire check," 

Suddenly all the screens lit up, and a female AI spoke, "Running… 50% complete… 75% complete… command completely. Detonation cancelled," 

"wow,” the villain drawled sarcastically, “25 seconds? That’s a new record," 

"What should we do with him now, boss?” one of the henchmen asked. 

“Take him out back and shoot him. Make an example of what happens when idiots try to encroach on my territory. You,” they pointed to the other henchmen, ignoring the now screaming supervillain that was being dragged out of the room, “Escort these heroes out with the guards outside. If they follow quietly, let them go; if they give you any trouble, knock them out and drop them out back," 

"We won’t give any trouble,” the hero stumbled as they cut the last of their friends free. 

They knew better than to cross this villain, that’s for sure. 


	11. The Gift of Panic Pt #5

As the hero made their way into the jail, they could immediately tell all the guards were tense and on edge. They, however, were excited, because today was the day the villain was getting released! 

They scanned their pass and made their way in, nodding to the different guards. Soon enough, they opened the door into the villain’s special cell area. 

“Good morning!” The hero called happily as they entered, seeing the villain packing their things into a cardboard box. 

“Morning,” The villain replied, not glancing up as they put the final item in and closed the box.

“Are you ready to go? The guards said they had been waiting on me,” The hero said, failing to hide the excitement in their voice. 

The villain looked up at them, a small smirk creeping on their face as their eyes gleamed for a second, “Someones, excited…” They mused as they stood up. 

“Well, obviously! You get out today! Aren’t you excited?!" 

The villain gave them a lopsided look, tilting their head, "I’m not sure excited is the correct word, but sure. I’ve a sneaking suspicion you’re more excited to see me get out of _here_ , though, considering you’re standing next to the forcefield switch, yet haven’t touched it,”

The hero sputtered, blushing. “No! That’s not-, well," 

The villain just raised an eyebrow, the corner of their lips curling in cool amusement.

"I’m… interested,” the hero defended, crossing their arms with a huff. 

The villain snorted a laugh at that, rolling their eyes fondly, “Very well, stand back," 

The hero did as they were told, taking a step back. They watched the villain intently as the other simply looked around at the bars in front of them. 

"S'almost a pitty to destroy a place a called home for so long, but alas,” suddenly the villains lit up, shining and almost glowing un-naturally brightly, “All good things must come to an end," 

With that, they gave one quick, small, swift flick of their wrist, and the ear-piercing sound of metal bending, snapping and breaking echoed off the walls. The hero’s hands flew up to cover their ears as the metallic explosion sound erupted forth. The hero saw the bars of the jail twisting and cracking angrily as the villain watched, completely relaxed, an almost smile ghosting their lips. 

They seemed to get bored of torturing the bars quickly, though, and snapped their fingers. 

At least, that’s what the hero assumed they did, based on what they saw, but the sound of the snap was drowned out, quickly followed by the visual as the bars exploded. Chunks and shards of metal were thrown everywhere, being thrown back by the forcefield. 

The hero yelped, unsure how the villain could be anything but ribbons inside the tornado of metal shrapnel. But soon, the dust faded, and the villain remained, standing in the same spot, completely unaffected or even phased. 

The only thing that remained of the metal bars were the occasional jagged spike where they had connected to the roof or ceiling. 

"Holy crap,” the hero muttered.

“Now,” the villain continued conversationally as the stepped over what was left of the bars and up the green forcefield, “the easiest way to deal with this, would be to do _this_ ," 

They extended their hand toward the switch on the wall, and made an upwards flicking motion. The hero watched as the switch flicked, and the forcefield shut off.

"However, that wouldn’t be nearly as fun as doing _this_ ," 

They turned it back on and stepped forward, hovering their flat palm millimetres away from the forcefield, closing their eyes. For a second, nothing happened, until suddenly, the forcefield began shaking. Then, like a bomb going off, a surge of electricity erupted from the villain’s hand and collided with the forcefield, and an explosion went off in the other room. They had blown the generator. 

"What… the…” the hero muttered, completely stunned as they looked around the room. 

The villain turned around and went to pick up their box, before making their way over to the hero, holding it in their arms. Their face wore a very self-satisfied smirk, assumedly from the look on the hero’s face as they approached. 

“It was also very stupid to put me on the ground floor,” the villain mused as they stood next to the hero, turning towards the outer wall. 

“Why?" 

"Considering this," 

They gestured at the wall, and just like that, a huge circle of concrete and steel wall tore out, getting thrown forward until it crashed down, skidding across the grass in front of the prison and nearly taking a guard out in the process. 

"Are you coming?” The villain teased. The hero shook their head, realizing they had been frozen, just staring while the villain had walked all the way out onto the grass. They ran to catch up to them. 

“What- I- HOLY CRAP!” they yelped, throwing their hands into the air, “What the hell was all that!? How did nobody know!?! What-” they shook their head, trying to clear their thoughts, “I still don’t understand, what is your power? There’s no way that’s just plain telekinesis!" 

The villain chuckled, "Not quite, but, what fun would it be if I just tell you?” they asked as they came to a stop next to the road, turning to face the hero, “Wouldn’t it be much more fun for you to try and figure it out?" 

"What!?” The hero erupted, “You’re not gunna tell me!?" 

The villain let out a startled, amused and almost happy laugh. The hero looked so disappointed and almost _betrayed_. 

"I’ll give you a hint,” the villain said, a sly, amused smirk on their face, “I don’t just have one power; I have two. And they are a very deadly combination," 

Just then, a black limo pulled up beside them, and the trunk popped open. The villain made their way around, putting the box into the trunk as the hero stood frozen, brain struggling to catch up. 

"Here,” the villain said as they walked back over to the hero, handing them a folded up page from their sketchbook.

“What’s this?" 

"My number doofus,” the villain replied in a joking, yet fond tone, “I did promise we could stay in contact. 

"Oh, right, of course!” the hero replied, taking the paper in their hand as the villain opened the limo door. 

“See you later,” the villain said before slipping into the vehicle. The hero could only wave as the limo drove off, still processing everything that just happened. 

They opened the paper in their hand, and nearly dropped it in surprise. There, on the page, was a phone number, just like the villain had said. They never mentioned the perfect drawing of the hero when they were playing battleship right above it!

The hero felt themselves blush as they pulled out their phone, adding the contact ‘Villain <3’ to it. When they got home, they put the drawing up on their fridge.


	12. Kind touch #3

"You know, if this does help, your welcome to sleep in here from now on if you want," the hero mused after a few minutes of silently listening to the other's breathing. They felt the villain in their arms tense for a second at the sudden noise before huffing in annoyance. 

"Yeah, right, I doubt this will even help anyway, so..." they replied stubbornly. 

"You do realize how relaxed you are right now, right?" The hero chided, smirk obvious in their voice. The villain went to tense up, just to prove the other wrong, but the hero had anticipated it. They felt the hero drag their nails up the back of their neck gently, carding their fingers up through their hair before scratching at their scalp. The touch immediately transformed the villain into putty, and the involuntary shiver of pleasure and quiet sigh of contentment gave them away. 

"Shut up and go to sleep," the villain grumbled, almost certain the hero could probably feel the heat of their face from where their head rested against the hero's chest. 

The hero chuckled lightly above them, "All right, all right. At the very least, I don't think I need to keep your wrists locked up anymore, do I?" 

"Up to you," the villain muttered quietly, already half asleep as the hero continued playing with their hair. 

The hero just hummed, pulling the blanket up a bit higher over them. The villain was asleep before they knew it, and for better or for worse, they had no nightmares. 

\- - -

The next day was weird, as the villain's hands were unlocked the whole day, and they were allowed to roam freely around the house. (At least, sometimes, if they were out of bed too long, the hero would fuss they needed rest)

The villain had even helped make lunch, after complaining the hero was chopping the vegetables wrong. The hero had commented it was the best soup they'd ever made, and despite themselves, the villain felt a tiny pang of pride at that. 

What was happening to them? 

It was now late that night, and they were both getting ready to head to bed. 

"You're sure you don't need anything else? Pain meds or anything?" The hero asked for the hundredth time. 

The villain fixed them with a deadpan and unimpressed expression. 

"Okay, okay," the hero laughed. 

The villain looked back at their bed, and suddenly, something in their stomach sank. After last night, the idea of sleeping alone sucked. They were so warm, so comfortable and safe feeling last night. 

"I'll head to bed then, but let me know if you need anything, okay?" 

"Hero, wait," the villain said, stopping them right as they were about to walk out. 

"Yes?" the hero asked in a tone of perfect faux innocence. 

"I, well, it's just-" 

The hero smiled, clasping their hands behind their back as they waited patiently. 

"Nevermind," the villain faltered, looking away awkwardly. 

"No, no," The hero encouraged, "It's okay, what is it?" 

The villain blushed, fidgeting with their sleeve awkwardly. The hero was having a very hard time keeping their face neutral because, god, this villain was too cute for their own good. 

"It's well, last night, you said-" they clenched their fists. 

"Yeah?" 

The villain glared, "you know," 

"I do," the hero nodded, giving a soft smile, "But I'm trying to encourage you to ask because it's completely okay," 

The villain blushed more, looking away. They felt like a child, but the hero was looking at them with such genuine patience. Like they not only understood that this was hard, but that it was okay. 

"CanIsleepinyourbedagaintonight," the villain muttered, quickly and quietly, eyes pinned shut as they forced the words out. 

"What was that?" The hero asked innocently, smiling and tilting their head. 

The villain glared, but the hero didn't falter. They just waited, that stupid, encouraging smile on their face. 

The villain took a deep breath, looking away, "Can I sleep in your bed again tonight?" They asked quietly. 

"Of course you can," The hero replied genuinely, extending their hand, "Come on," 

Maybe asking for affection wasn't the worst thing in the world after all.


	13. The Gift of Panic Pt #6

The following week was strange. The hero hadn’t seen the villain since he ‘broke out’ of jail. They had been texting, occasionally, but that wasn’t why the week had been strange. 

The week had been strange because the hero hadn’t been called in for a single crime! There were still the occasional small things, but nothing worth calling the hero in for. It was as if all the other villains had up and left the city!

The hero turned the corner down an alley, deep in their thoughts. Were the villains planning something big? Were they working together? Why had there been almost no sightings of any of them!?

Suddenly, without warning, something hard and metallic connected with the back of the hero’s head, and everything went black. 

When he finally came to an hour later, his head was still spinning, a faint ringing in his ears as he tried to blink the world around them into focus. He went to try and move, but found he couldn’t. Finally, his eyes seemed to focus enough to see the rope that was tying him to their chair. 

“Rissseeee and shiiinneeee!!!” A voice chirped behind them, too loudly. The hero winced. 

He recognized the voice, though. It was Fallout, one of the higher-up villains in town. 

“Well, look who finally decided to join us back in the land of the living!" 

"What do you want, Fallout?” the hero asked, though his voice came out slightly strained. 

“Oh, don’t worry, darling, for once, I’m not actually all that interested in you! You’re just the bait today!" 

"Bait for who?” the hero asked in confusion. This was new; he’d never been bait before. Who would come for them?

“Bait to lure your new boyfriend, obviously,” the villain replied as they finally walked into the hero’s view. He sat down onto an office chair, pushing off the ground and rolling directly in front of the hero, a manic grin on his face. 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” the hero replied, narrowing his eyes. 

“I’m going to assume he’s talking about me,” came a new voice. Both the hero and Fallout’s head snapped to look at the newcomer. 

“Yes, he would be the one! The one you somehow managed to befriend while they were in prison,” Fallout drawled as he stood up, “Welcome welcome Silver," 

Silver, right. That was the villain’s new name on the street recently.

The villain sighed. The hero noticed his eyes dart over to him, looking him up and down, scanning for injuries, before looking back to the other villain in the room, "I don’t know if you’re brave or stupid," 

"I’m irritated is what I am!” Fallout snapped angrily,

“Everyone slow down,” the hero interrupted, “someone mind filling me in on what the hell is going on here?" 

"ever since your boyfriend got out of jail, most villains have been too scared to try anything ever since we found out this one’s got a soft spot for you!" 

The hero’s eyes widened, glancing between the two villains in front of them. 

"So… you kidnapped them? That seems smart,” he commented, lazily adjusting the cuffs of his suit.

“I did so to prove a point,” Fallout drawled, “I wanted to prove that they made you weak. You don’t need a soft spot for this pathetic piece of meat; he will only slow you down," 

The villain simply raised an eyebrow. 

"I mean, think about it, you wasted your time, coming here, to save him, when you could have been doing other things! Imagine the things you could be doing! Instead, you’re here, all because of him," 

The villain yawned, rolling their eyes, "Oh yes, the things I could be doing. You interrupted my bubble bath I’ll have you know, quite an important thing, that," 

The hero couldn’t help himself. He snorted. He really shouldn’t have, but when he saw the smile that crept onto Silver’s face, he decided it was worth it. 

"Also, I would like to say, I made no such declaration for other villains not to touch him,” Silver continued, gesturing to the hero who was still tied to their chair, “I’m plenty certain he’s more than capable of handling themselves," 

"If you really believed that, then why would you come to rescue him?" 

"I’m here because you called me,” the villain deadpanned, “He isn’t my significant other, but you implied he was. It’s the principle of trying to take something you assumed was mine, regardless of your correctness," 

Suddenly the villain pulled something out of his pocket and whipped it. Fallout didn’t have time to react before the dagged pierced their thigh. 

"And as I said earlier, I don’t know if you’re brave or stupid. Though, I’m fairly certain with my conclusion that you are neither. Your simply insane," 

"Don’t kill him!” they hero called urgently, “there’s no need to kill him, just get me out of here," 

The villain sighed, "Very well. That’s much less entertaining, though," 

He walked over, cutting the hero free in one, swift motion. 

"Though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t anticipate you wouldn’t want them killed. Thus my decision to aim for their leg. Should make arresting them much simpler, given they can’t run away. Merry Christmas?” He added with a sly, yet chillingly charming smirk. 

The hero’s eyes widened, looking at the other in shock. 

“Uhm, yeah, right,” He shook his head as he pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket and made his way over to Fallout, who was crippled on the ground. 

“This was so much easier when heroes and villains weren’t on the same side!” He growled from his position on the floor, trying to scoot away from the advancing hero. 

“Ah, how times change,” The villain drawled. He raised his hand, and the dagger that was embedded in the other’s leg shot out. Fallout let out a screech of pain, blood splattering over them. The villain caught the dagger effortlessly, spinning it through his fingers. 

The hero yelped in surprise, “Remember how I said don't kill him?!" 

"I didn’t hit an artery; he’ll be fine,” the villain replied, rolling his eyes.

Lucky the villain was right, and the hero was able to stop the bleeding and arrest them without too much issue. 

“Well,” the villain mused once it was all said and done, “I got you kidnapped today; I think the least I can do is offer you a cup of tea?” He smirked. 


	14. The Gift of Panic Pt #7

The hero wasn’t sure what to expect when he accepted the invitation to have tea at the villain’s place, but walking into what looked like a 5-star hotel wasn’t it. 

The lobby wasn’t packed but had a couple of people lined up to the front desk. There were guards in full black suits and sunglasses that looked like they were straight out of a movie positioned around the lobby and entrance. Everything was a velvet black, with silver linings, laces or trims. 

“Wow,” the hero muttered as he followed the villain past the front desk.

Suddenly, a large girl in a suit and high ponytail hurriedly walked up to them.

“Sir, our first steps dealing with the eastern district went perfectly. However, the Grandwells are making threats," 

"proceed as instructed, and remind them my offer still stands,” Silver replied, “I’m busy at the moment. Thank you for letting me know," 

The henchmen simply nodded, before turning and walking away. 

"I can wait, if you have something you need to take care of,” the hero said, worried they were interrupting. It felt a bit like they were walking with a leader of the mafia or something. Everything about the villain radiated power, a demanding of respect that didn’t root from fear. 

“Oh, it’s nothing dire; they can manage until we get settled at least,” The villain replied, placing their hand on a seemingly normal wall. The spot on the wall lit up, a blue light scanning the villain’s hand for a moment before an elevator door opened next to them with a ding. 

This was officially something out of a movie. 

“I’m surprised your guards have had nothing to say about me waltzing in here,” the hero commented as he got into the elevator after the villain. Even the interior of the elevator was a black velvet lined with silver. 

“I was right next to you,” Silver replied, looking at the hero with an unimpressed expression, “I don’t hire imbeciles," 

The hero snorted a laugh at that as the villain typed a code into the panel on the wall. 

"By the way, I was wondering where the name ‘Silver’ came from. I get it now," 

This time it was the villains turn to chuckle, "I always preferred silver to gold. Gold is much too loud; its also a softer metal, useless for things outside jewelry,”

“Only you would put so much thought into something like that," 

The villain shrugged as the elevator went up.

"Though, I guess I agree with you; I always thought silver was prettier anyway,” he added in a fond tone. 

The villain’s head snapped to look at him, eyes wide in surprise, a slight blush on his cheeks, a look of shock that faded to a soft, small smile. 

The hero smiled back, just in time for the elevator to chime and the doors to open. 

They walked into what the hero had to assume was the penthouse, and his jaw dropped. The far wall was nothing but large glass pane windows and a door to a glass balcony that overlooked the city. He hadn’t realized just how high up they were.

The entire place was fairly open concept, but the room looked like something out of a designer magazine. The hero tried to think back to when the villain had been in jail, remembering him in the prison uniform, the jail room they were kept in. He remembered how strange it was the villain’s bed was always made. If only he’d known. 

The man in the grey, perfectly tailored suit next to him looked nothing like the villain he knew weeks ago. It was staggering. It was intoxicating. 

“Make yourself at home,” the villain commented as they glided over to the kitchen, tossing their suit coat onto the back of one of the nearby chairs. 

“This is… wow.” The hero muttered, still taking it all in. There was a curtain across the entrance to what he assumed was the bedroom. The living room had two couches and two armchairs around a coffee table, the plush white shag rug underneath it all a sharp contrast to the dark hardwood of the rest of the floor. The kitchen was all white cupboards and black stone countertops with an island in the middle, four bar stools beside it. There was even a vase of flowers in the center.

He heard the villain laugh, “I guess it’s a bit different from the prison cell you usually saw me in, huh?" 

"You can say that again,” the hero agreed, continuing to look around. He turned, noticing one of the walls had a tarp over it, nailed at the top. There was a separate tarp over the floor, and a stack of something alongside the wall was also covered. 

“What’s that?” the hero asked curiously.

“Hm?” the villain hummed as he finished putting the kettle on. He glanced up, following the hero’s eyes to the wall and immediately… blushed? 

“Oh, that’s just uh, a small project of mine,” he replied casually. 

The hero’s eyes narrowed, “Is it something I shouldn’t see for legal reasons?” he asking in a joking manner. 

“Oh no, no, nothing like that,” the villain replied, grabbing two mugs out of a nearby cupboard. 

“Then… why are you being so cryptic?" 

Silver looked up, meeting the hero’s eyes for a moment. Emotions flashed through the villain’s face as he seemed to contemplate something. 

"It’s just not something I’m used to sharing with others, I suppose…” he drawled, shifting slightly where he stood, “But, there’s no harm in you looking, I guess," 

"I mean, I won’t if you don’t want me to; I’m just curious,” The hero replied, not wanting to overstep either. His being here in the villain’s home was probably already outside the villain’s comfort zone, and he didn’t want to push. The hero was prepared to go at whatever pace the villain needed. 

“No, no, it’s alright,” he replied, setting the mugs down onto the counter and making his way over. He whisked past the other before raising his hand. The nails on the wall shook and suddenly flew out, dropping the tarp to the floor before returning into the wall. 

If the villain had wanted a dramatic reveal, he certainly accomplished his goal. 

The entire wall was a painted mural of the cityscape late at night. The hero recognized many of the buildings, including the jail, the town hall, and more.

“holy crap,” the hero replied breathlessly, “Did… did you do all of this yourself?" 

"Ah, yes, well, I’m still a little rusty; I haven’t painted in years, but the sketchbook you gave me in prison reminded me how much I enjoyed the hobby," 

"Rusty? Silver, you’re incredible!” The hero replied, turning to look at him. 

The villain blushed, more than the hero had seen him flush before as he bit back a smile. 

“Thank you,” He replied while looking at the ground, unable to meet the hero’s face. If he wasn’t mistaken, the hero would have said silver looked shy right now. 

Before either could say anything else, the kettle went off. 

“Oh, teas ready,” the villain said, turning and almost fleeing off to the kitchen. The hero could only watch with a fond smile, following after him and taking a seat at the kitchen island. 

“Here you are, hero,” The villain said, sliding the mug over to him. 

“Rhys”

“What?" 

"The name of the person underneath the mask, doofus,” The hero replied with a fond smile, “It’s about time you knew it," 

Silver looked at him with a dumbstruck, speechless look on his face. Rhys laughed, the sound seemingly snapping the villain out of it. 

"I- sorry- thank you,” he replied awkwardly, sipping his tea, “Your trust means a lot," 

Suddenly, the villain’s phone went off. 

"Hello?" 

The villain sighed in annoyance, "I guess this is why we have a backup plan in place. Withdraw from the area, make sure no one gets hurt. I’ll be right there,” He said before hanging up the phone.

“What’s going on?” The hero asked immediately. 

“Seems the Grandwells have skipped the negotiations and gone with violence. I’m going to have to deal with this so none of my men get hurt," 

"When you say 'deal with this,’ do you mean…?" 

The villain just gave him a pointed look, though the hero would swear there was almost a hint of apologetic or sheepishness to it.

"Ah,” the hero concluded awkwardly, “Will any innocent civilians be injured?" 

"No, no, nothing like that. The Grandwells are criminals themselves," 

Suddenly an idea popped into the hero’s head.

"What if… I tagged along?" 

"Are… did you just offer to assist in illegal activity?" 

The hero smirked, looking like he was trying to bite back a smile and, failing miserably, "I find fighting criminals while helping a friend quite a heroic thing to do," 

Silver’s eyes widened.

"Besides, I figure if you had the extra help, I might be able to convince you not to take as many lives?" 

The villain gave them a fake look of disappointment, amusement clear on his face, "You take the fun out of everything," 


	15. Get Your Blood Pumping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampire villain x human hero

The hero gulped for the air that had been stolen from their lungs when they’d been thrown against the wall. Their whole body ached from the admittedly one-sided fighting. Their vision went black when the fangs sunk into their neck, pain coursing through them. They tried to struggle in the iron grip, but it was a fruitless venture, only straining their already sore muscles. Consciousness seemed to flicker like a candle flame in the wind. They could feel the strength drain from their limbs.

Suddenly their was a sharp electric pain of fangs being aggressively torn from their neck followed by a loud metallic sound. The hero’s legs gave out underneath them, no longer being held up by the vampire, causing them to slump to the ground, feeling the rough brick against their back as they went. Through their hazy vision, they saw the vampire struggling to their feet in front of a dented dumpster. They glanced over to see the villain standing a few feet in front of them. They were talking to each other, but the hero wasn’t able to make most of it out. Something about ‘idiot,’ 'snack,’ and 'should kill .’

The vampire’s face, which had been cocky and amused, suddenly turned horrified, afraid, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone. The last thing the hero remembered was the villain turning to them, eyes glowing red before their world went black. 

When they opened their eyes, they immediately bolted upright, regretting it when it felt like someone was clanging pans in their skull. Their hands flew up to their head, but they were beaten by a much colder hand resting on their forehead. 

“Easy hero,” A cool voice said slowly, quietly. 

The hero could only let out some kind of short whimpering sound, pinning their eyes shut again. Their brain was all fuzzy. 

“I know, kitten,” the voice said again, and the hero felt another cold hand on their shoulder, guiding them back to laying down, “Just relax, you’re okay," 

The hand moved off their shoulder, only to press gently against their cheek. 

"Shit, you’re getting a fever,” the voice muttered under their breath, pulling both their hands away. The hero let out an involuntary whine, not at the loss of touch but of the cool sensation against their burning skin. 

“… oh… right," 

The hero felt a small gust of air, then another, followed by what felt like a cold, damp cloth being placed on their forehead. They relaxed because that did help, and they soon lost their battle for consciousness again. 

When they blinked their eyes open again, it felt a lot easier. Their head didn’t hurt nearly as bad as they sat up, only feeling slightly dizzy. 

"Oh, look who’s up," 

The hero immediately went rigid, prior events flooding back into their mind. Their heart immediately began racing at the memory of the villain’s red eyes. 

The villain-! 

Their gaze snapped over, landing on the villain who was sitting at a desk, turned to face them in the office chair. 

Vampire. The villain was a vampire.

"Hey, there’s no need of that,” the villain said softly, hearing the other’s heart rate pick up, “How are you feeling? You lost a lot of blood," 

The hero’s eyes darted around, trying to make sense of what was happening. They were laid on a sofa of some kind, a blanket thrown over them. The room was cool, though not cold. Concrete floors met old wood walls around them. 

"What… where…?” The hero tried, voice struggling to work. They turned their head, and immediately jumped as a jolt of pain shot from their neck, radiating down their spine. They yelped, hand flying up to meet gauze and bandage wraps. 

“Easy!” The villain scolded, tone strict yet soft, hands flying up towards the hero like they wanted to run over but stopped themselves, “You don’t wanna rip the stitches," 

"Stitches?!" 

"Yeah, those fangs getting ripped out really shredded you up. I apologize for that; I wasn’t thinking about it when I kicked him off of you," 

"You…” The hero’s breath hitched, heart pounding as they remembered. They pushed themselves to sit up further against the couch, “You’re a vampire…" 

The villain smirked in amusement, eyes gleaming slightly. "Relax, kitten, as tasty as you probably are, I’m not going to eat you,” Their smirk grew, “Unless you ask me to, of course,” They winked. 

For some reason, the hero felt themselves blushing. 

They swallowed nervously, wanting to ask why the villain was helping them but not sure if they could handle whatever the answer would be right now. 

“How… how did you scare the other one-off?" 

The villain looked contemplative for a moment, biting their lip for a second, inadvertently showing off one of their fangs.

"Vampires are… territorial creatures. They were feeding on my turf. I really should have killed them, but I was more concerned with the hero bleeding out behind me at the time,” They shrugged before standing up. 

They were moving at human speeds, which the hero assumed was for their benefit.

“How are you feeling, though? Seriously, you lost a lot of blood, and he gave you some pretty nasty bruises while throwing you around like a rag doll," 

The hero unconsciously sunk back, shying away from the now advancing villain, who stopped in their tracks. They said that like the villain themselves had never thrown the hero around like a ragdoll. 

Okay… perhaps the villain only ever used close to human strength with the hero, but the point still stood.

They sighed, a look of hurt or disappointment flickering across their face before taking a step back.

"Can I get you anything to eat?" 

"I… uh…” they didn’t know how to respond to that. 

The villain raised an eyebrow, and amused smirk curling onto their lips, “Yep got it, sure, one serving of 'uh’ coming right up,” They joked, rolling their eyes, “I’ll get you some hot chocolate, sugar is good for the blood loss," 

And with that, they were gone. Though it was a little concerning that they knew what was good for bloodloss. 


	16. Keep Walking

Keep walking. That’s what the villain should be doing. They should continue on down the road, just like they had planned. The deal they just got out of making had gone perfectly. There was a warm bath waiting at home for them. There were a million reasons they should keep walking. 

And yet, here they were, standing at the entrance to an alley, unable to keep walking, staring at the hero that was huddled at the other end.

The hero hadn’t even seen them yet! There was NO reason to interfere here! So why wouldn’t their feet walk forward?!

They glanced back down the alley, looking at the hero who was struggling to pull themselves into an upright position against the wall. They looked pathetic. Bloodied, beaten, weak, shivering and pathetic. 

The villain gave a defeated sigh, running their fingers through their hair. One quick check, that was it, then they’d go home. 

“Well, well, well,” the villain mused as they approached, “This certainly isn’t something you see every day.”

The hero flinched, hard enough to hit their head against the brick wall behind them. They let out a pained whimpering noise as their grip on a nearby pipe gave out and they dropped, sliding down the wall. It was then the villain noticed how much blood was all over them. 

The hero leaned forward, pulling their back off the cold bricks behind them as they struggled to lift their knees up so they could curl into the fetal position. 

“What…” the villain stuttered, completely astounded, “What the hell happened to you?" 

The hero just shook their head slightly, whimpering something under their ragged, uneven breath. They were shaking like a phone on vibrate, teeth chattering in their head. 

The villain glanced around uneasily. They couldn’t leave the hero here like this!? They looked like they were barely able to stay conscious, and nobody would find them tucked away in this back alley like this!

The villain cursed under their breath before they unzipped their coat, shrugging it off their shoulders. 

They took another step forward and crouched down, feeling a weird pang of guilt when the hero tried (and failed) to scoot away from them. They wrapped their jacket around the hero’s shoulders snuggly, partly using it to keep the hero from tipping over in their attempt to get away from the villain. 

The hero’s arms wrapped around their torso, hugging themselves tightly. The villain used a gentle hand to guide their knees down so they could zip up the coat in the front. The hero practically sank into the fuzzy interior of the jacket around them. 

The villain pulled the hood over the other’s head, having to keep ahold of the hero’s shoulder with their other hand to keep them upright. This was decidedly not how they imagined their night going.

"Please…” the hero whimpered, and it sounded like they were crying; every word came out like it was forced and strained, “Please don’t leave me to die here… I don’t want to-” suddenly, all life seemed to drain from the hero in front of them. They slumped forward, before falling to the side, collapsing into the villain’s arms as they finially seemed to lose the battle to stay conscious. 

The villain froze, completely unsure what to do. The hero in their arms may have been asleep, but they still hadn’t stopped shivering. 

They cursed under their breath once more, slipping their arms under the hero and hoisting them up to carry them bridal style. There was no way the villain could just leave them in the ally now. 

Damn it. They should have kept walking.


	17. Get Your Blood Pumping Pt #2

The hero should have been using the opportunity alone to scan the room, look for possible escape routes; hell, they should be trying to escape already. And yet, they simply laid back into the cushions. The villain would hear them, and they were in no shape to go outrunning vampires.

A few minutes later, the villain returned, a steaming mug in their hands that they handed to the hero. The hero took the mug, watching as the villain shifted uncomfortably beside them.

“What?”

“ah- uh, would you let me feel your forehead? I need to make sure your fever is going down,”

The hero swallowed the lump in their throat, nodding as they fidgeted nervously, “Y-yeah,”

The villain nodded, something flickering in their eyes as they reached forward, slowly, very slowly, so the hero could track their movements. The hero felt the cool hand gently rest against their forehead for a moment, trying to ignore the nervous thumping of their heart. After a second, the villain drew back.

“It’s starting to go down,”

“Your so cold…” the hero stated in shock.

The villain looked taken-aback by the comment but quickly steeled their face into nonchalant amusement, “ah yes, well, perks of being half-dead,”

“Why are you helping me?” The hero asked, blurting out the question before they could stop themselves. 

“I don’t know,” the villain shrugged, “You may be annoying, but even you aren’t much of a match against a hungry vampire. If I didn’t help, there isn’t anyone else that could,”

The hero stared at them from over the steam of the hot chocolate in their lap.

“Don’t thank me,” the villain said sharply, glaring at the other, “I saved you out of pity if anything. I believe in fairness, and that was hardly a fair fight,”

“Says the vampire who pretended to be human while fighting me, yet was somehow always stronger,”

The hero couldn’t believe they had the guts to joke right now, but something felt… off. They didn’t believe the villain saying they only saved them out of pity. Something about all their body language and changing tones wasn’t adding up.

Something in the villain’s eyes lit up, a smirk growing on their face, “aw kitten, no need to be a sore loser,”

The hero rolled their eyes and took another sip of their hot chocolate. Their brain was still racing, like a tornado storm of thoughts in their head. How long had the villain been a vampire? How did they eat? How had the hero never noticed?

Why was the crush the hero would deny having on the villain till the day they died coming back at them like a steam train!?

Just because they hadn’t hurt them yet didn’t mean they wouldn’t! Just because the villain had used human strength to not hurt the hero shouldn’t mean anything!

That stupid smirk the villain would look at them with that made their stomach feel weird things shouldn’t matter! Just because the nickname ‘kitten’ that the villain didn’t use for any other heroes made them want to squirm in place shouldn’t change things!

Why was their heart suddenly fluttering?

Uh oh.

They tried to calm it, but they were too late. They saw the villain turn to them immediately, furrowing their brows as they looked at them in confusion.

The hero did their best to appear aloof as they sipped their hot chocolate, but based on the small smirk they saw curl onto the villain’s lips out of the corner of their eye, they assumed that was a fail. 

“My, my, hero,” The villain drawled, amusement and teasing clear in their tone, “What’s going on inside that head of yours? Your heart is singing all kinds of different notes,”

The hero could feel how hot their face was. The hot chocolate probably would have felt cold.

Shit.


	18. Get Your Blood Pumping Pt #3

“Must be the blood loss,” the hero grumbled, though they could feel their heart beginning to pound faster. They took another sip of their hot chocolate, almost trying to hide their face in the opening of the mug. Their face was so hot they could barely feel the steam from the drink. 

“Are you sure about that? Because that certainly doesn’t sound like a heart in distress… or fear," 

"What else would it be?” They asked, which probably wasn’t the smartest question. 

Suddenly the villain in front of them vanished, leaving nothing but the spinning office chair in their wake. The hero felt their heart jump into their throat.

“Now see that, that’s fear," 

The voice came from behind them. The hero felt the hair on the back of their neck stand up. They could hear the pounding of their heart in their own ears. They looked over their shoulder to see the villain leaning onto the back of the couch casually, head held up by resting on one of their hands. 

"I probably know more about the sound of your heart than you do,” the villain continued after a moment when it was evident the hero didn’t plan on breaking the silence, “I mean, I have to listen to it all the time after all," 

"That’s creepy,” they muttered into the rim of their mug. They were running out of hot chocolate, which was somehow scarier than the vampire behind them currently, because then they wouldn’t have the excuse of taking a sip as an excuse not to respond. 

“That’s the truth, and you know, I’ve heard your heart beat like that before, kitten,”

The hero almost cursed under their breath when their heart sped up at the nickname. The villain could play them like a violin! This was so stupid!

Out of the corner of their eye, they could see the smirk growing on the villain’s face.

“it would happen any time I got too close…” they mused, leaning a bit closer, tone as if they were recalling a fond childhood memory, “Whenever I’d pin you to a wall…-”

“Shut up,” the hero whispered, not sure if they were talking to the villain, their own thoughts, or their traitorous heart.

“I was never sure before,” The villain continued like they hadn’t heard them, though the amusement in their eyes suggested otherwise, “given that it was always while we were fighting, your heart was already racing from exerting yourself, it was hard to tell, but I knew something was different," 

The hero didn’t say anything, staring at the bottom of their mug like if they didn’t look at the villain, maybe they would disappear. 

"Isn’t that right, kitten?" 

"I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the hero fumbled, laying their now empty mug on the side table. They sat up, turning to sit on the couch properly. They felt another gust of wind and suddenly-

The villain was in their lap!? 

The hero jerked back in surprise, leaning back into the couch cushions. They choked on their words, and probably their heart as well as it leapt back up into their throat, doing that weird fluttery, skip a beat kind of pounding. 

The villain was sitting so they could face the other, knees on either side of the hero’s legs.

“You’re a terrible liar,” their tone would have been a purr if not for how much amusement was evident in it. Their eyes gleamed, dancing with amusement, mischief and… something else. 

The hero tried to look away, but something about the villain had always been intoxicating, maybe it was a vampire thing, and this was out of their control, but…

No, they hadn’t felt it with the other vampire. 

“Oh hero, if you could hear your heart now…” they drawled, quieter, tilting their head slightly as they traced a single finger over the other’s chest, over their heart. 

The hero could feel the slight chill even through their suit, or maybe it was just because of how hot and flustered they were; the heat was making the contrast that much more obvious. 

This was wrong; the hero’s brain was screaming at them. 

“I- whatever you’re trying to do-," 

"Shhh kitten,” the villain cut them off, lifting their hand up to cup the side of the hero’s face. The hand felt like ice against their hot cheeks. Their breath hitched. 

“We fight for a living,” the villain continued, “If you didn’t want me here, you would have pushed me off long ago. I know all about fight or flight instincts, and I didn’t trigger yours. Your heart would have told me either way,”

The hero turned their head, away from the hand and away from the villain, trying to get their brain to think, to work again.

They hadn’t even realized the action was subsequently showing off their neck. Their brain was too jumbled to notice the villain leaning in. It wasn’t until they felt the chill of the featherlight, cold kiss the villain pressed against it did their breath and shoulders hitch, heart leaping in fear for a moment until they realized they weren’t getting bitten, and they relaxed, exhaling a shaky breath. 

“Hmm,” the villain hummed, like they were trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together. The hero felt them move up, placing another cold kiss a bit below their jaw before leaning back again. 

“You know, you still haven’t told me to stop," 

The hero’s head snapped to look at them, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. 

"What’s the matter, kitten? Cat got your tongue?" 

"More like a vampire,” the hero replied quiet and almost breathlessly. 

Suddenly the villain leaned in, bringing their lips together softly. The kiss was cold, but not unpleasantly so, like the cooling wind on a hot day. The hero was immediately kissing back.

They’d blame it on the bloodloss.


	19. The Gift of Panic Pt #8

If Rhys had been asked whether or not he was scared of Silver, he would have said no. Of course not. How could he be afraid of someone he just had tea with? Someone he just told his real name to?

That was before they arrived at the Grandwell warehouse. None of Silver’s men were going in with them, just the villain and the hero, because Silver said he didn’t want any of his men getting hurt.

Rhys had seen silver in action before, or so he thought. But apparently, he’d never really seen him in action, because wow, was it something else. It was terrifying, awe-inspiring, overwhelming, intimidating, scary, intoxicating and overall just breathtaking. It was like a fish in water, where the hero could see just how in his environment Silver was while fighting. His movements were so fluid, effortless. He barely even got hit; he was so good at dodging, blocking.

Admittedly, they had snuck in, taking out guards one by one at first. Silver had promised Rhys that were possible, he would knock them out instead of killing them, but that he wasn’t going to be getting thrown off his game or distracted because of it. Friendship is about compromise, the hero supposed.

Up until they got into the main warehouse, Silver actually hadn’t killed a single person, being able to sneak up behind them and either choke them or knock them out.

Rhys felt pretty glad he was on this side of the fighting for a change.

Once they entered the warehouse, it was very open. They split up, able to take out a few guards from weaving in between boxes, but eventually, they were noticed, and the full out brawl ensued.

That’s when the blood really started.

Now the hero wasn’t a perfect saint either; as much as he tried to be, he’d had to kill a few guards or criminals before, but it was always in self-defence. He had a rule in place for himself that he would always offer his opponent the option to surrender first if he felt they weren’t going to go down with a real fight. Even then, he always tried to only leave non-fatal wounds, but every person was different, and what didn’t kill one person might not always be survivable for the next.

Honestly, if someone asked Rhys whether he was scared of Silver now, the answer still probably would have been no, but it would have at least been a more hesitant no.

His thoughts were cut off when he was thrown to the ground by a criminal he hadn’t seen. They wrestled around, Rhys managing to get out of the other’s grip for a moment, only to be pushing back into a wall, fighting to hold the criminal’s knife back from stabbing into him.

The hero didn’t see the villain behind the other until the tip of a knife emerged on the other side of the criminal’s throat.

“You good?” Silver asked, pulling his knife back and pushing the criminal to the ground.

“Yeah,” The hero panted, catching his breath, “Thanks, though, you could have knocked him out,”

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking about it when I saw you in trouble,” the villain shrugged. He wasn’t even very out of breath!

What got Rhys the most was that he also didn’t even use his powers!

The hero was 80% sure he had worked out the villain’s first power was metal-kenisis, and this place was full of metal objects! But Silver managed just fine, not needing to tap into them even once.

“Is that all of them?” Rhys asked, looking around.

“All but the Grandwells themselves, whom I assume heard the gunshots and have turned tail, but it’s worth checking anyway,”

“Where are they?”

“Most likely the top floor,” he replied as they walked over the elevator.

“Yeah, but we don’t have the passcode, do we?”

The villain raised an eyebrow, “Have you seriously not put together what my powers are yet?”

“It’s metal ken- oh,”

Silver chuckled, and with of wave of his hand, the elevator doors opened. Once they were in, he made an upwards motion, and Rhys could feel the elevator going up.

Once they were at the top, they stepped out, looking around the area.

“Tell me,” Silver said as they walked down the hallway, “If we spare them, which I’m admittingly not inclined to do, but if we do, will the police immediately investigate to clean up all their illegal activity?

"That depends; I now realize that I don’t really know what I’m going to do because I didn’t bring nearly enough handcuffs, and the guys downstairs will be awake before the police get to this side of town,”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll have my men deal with it, but that answers my question anyway,”

When the two large doors at the end of the hall opened, the Grandwell twins were nowhere to be seen, but the emergency exit door was still open, sign above it blinking.

“Cowards,” the villain muttered, “They are probably long gone by now. Sacrificed the lives of their men to stall us long enough to escape. Unbelievable.”

“I-” Rhys paused, unsure how to respond, “No offence but isn’t that what, well ya'know, villains tend to do?”

Luckily Silver didn’t seem offended; he simply shrugged, “Most of them, yes probably. But not me; most of my men and women have family to feed. I’m not about to make any children lose their parents if I can help it. I may be a villain, but I have standards. You might notice I also always try to thank my men because using fear to scare your followers into loyalty isn’t even close to as valuable as truly earning it. I don’t expect them to be loyal to me if I treat them poorly. I may not care about them on a personal level, but working out of fear instead of free will makes for terrible work ethic among more instances of betrayal, etcetera,”

“Wow, I never thought about it like that, but, yeah that’s really smart. I’m sure your employees appreciate it,”

Rhys watched as Silver dug through the various different drawers of the main desks, rooting through the papers and other things.

“Now what?” the hero asked.

“Well, now that it’s safe, I’ll send my men in. They will round up all the survivors for you, and if you can guarantee them safety, I’ll even have them deliver them to the police station for you. They will comb through the rest of this place and take anything valuable, as well as gather all the information they can. We will still have to track down the Grandwells after all,”

“Wow, yeah, that would be perfect,”

Before the villain could reply, Rhys phone went off.

“Hello?” the hero answered, and suddenly his eyes widened, “Oh crap, yeah, I’ll be right there,”

“what’s wrong?”

“Thistle and some of her men are trying to rob the bank on main street. I’m going to have to run,”

“Hold on. Let me pass the go along to my men first, and then I can tag along with you to help,”

Rhy’s eyes widened in shock, mouth ajar slightly, “did-, are you offering to help fight crime?” he asked in disbelief.

Silver smirked that knowing, charming, yet mischievous smirk, “I consider taking out one of my competitors a very villainous thing to do,”

Rhys laughed, pulling out his phone again, “Alright, you make your call. I’ll call the station to let them know not to arrest your men when they drop off these criminals and that your tagging along to make sure they don’t try and shoot you or something,”

“Sounds like a plan to me, my friend,” the villain replied, dialling something on their phone. The ‘my friend’ comment made the hero stop for a second, heart-swelling in his chest. Even if it had been said as almost a joke, not as earnestly as the hero was taking it, it still meant a lot.

This was turning out much better than the Rhys would have ever imagined.


	20. Swayed by the Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hero breaks into the villains lair for info, only to find them singing/playing the piano, and they are incredible at it.

This mission was supposed to be easy, sneak into the villain's lair, gather info, and slip out unseen!

They weren't sure what they'd find once they infiltrated, but it was decidedly not this.

They expected torture devices, models of the city and evil science labs. They weren't expecting an empty ballroom, with the villain playing piano on the stage.

They hadn't seemed to notice the hero, who was still hidden behind a couple of boxes. The villain played incredibly, never missing a note as their fingers danced across the keys. Incredible was quickly upgraded to breathtaking once the villain started singing, though.

Because wow.

That was the only thing the hero could come up with. Their voice was intoxicating, mixing with the piano perfectly. The sound bounced off the walls of the empty ballroom, somehow only enhancing the enchanting nature of it.

The hero could only sit and listen, completely frozen and high on the music around them.

The worst part was that it ended too soon.

As soon as the villain hit the last note, the ballroom fell quiet for a moment.

"That was incredible," the hero said, standing up from their hiding place. They were confident that there were no guards in the room, and the villain was unarmed.

The villain almost jumped out of their skin, standing up so quickly they knocked the bench over behind them. There was a clang of keys as the villain used the piano to promptly push themselves into a standing position. They stumbled back a few steps, eyes wide as they stared at the hero.

"What... what the hell..." they said breathlessly, as their brain seemed to struggle to catch up.

"Your amazingly talented," the hero commented with a small smile, "where did you even learn to play and sing like that?"

The villain's face seemed to drain of colour as their eyes grew to house the emotion of horror.

"How long have you been here?!" The villain sputtered, a note of panic in their voice.

The hero furrowed their brows, "A couple of minutes at least," they admitted with a small shrug as they took a few steps forward.

"Well, get out then! Why did you stick around!?" They yelped, almost desperately, before crossing their arms over their chest and looking away, "I don't know how my racket didn't send you running in the first place," they muttered under their breath.

"Excuse me?" The hero said in shock. The villain hadn't expected them to hear the last comment.

"I said leave!" The villain sputtered, blushing furiously, "you shouldn't be here!"

"Well, no duh," the hero said, a sly smile on their face, as they stared at the villain, looking them up and down like they were working out a puzzle, "Don't tell me you're embarrassed about this?"

The villain took another step back as the hero took a step forward, causing them to nearly trip over the fallen piano bench.

The hero raised an amused eyebrow, causing the villain to only blush more.

"Of course not!"

"Really?" The hero asked, taking another step forward, "because you're usually smooth and on top of your game, not..." he looked at the bench on the floor, then the villains face, "flustered and clumsy,"

"Why are you even still here!?" The villain tried.

The hero narrowed their eyes, "you're usually very proud and show boat-y of your skills," they said, tilting their head, "why is this one any different?"

"It's not!"

"Mmm," the hero hummed, "so if I asked you to play-"

"Absolutely not!" The villain snapped before the hero could finish "why would I just- humiliate myself-" they shook their head, "can't you just leave?"

Suddenly the hero's eyes widened as if the final piece of the puzzle had clicked into place.

"You... don't think you're any good..." they said disbelievingly.

"I think it's time you leave!"

"You are an incredible pianist and singer," the hero said, a note of desperation in their tone, "how can you not see that, I mean," they shook their head as if trying to clear their thoughts," you have like, henchmen and stuff! Surely one of them has told you how good you are!"

The villain was frozen, unmoving like a statue as they tried to get their brain to catch up.

"N...no of course not, I mean-," they fumbled, shaking their head and taking another step back, "I make sure nobody else is around- at least usually-"

"I would have never imagined you being shy about something, especially something like this,"

"I'm not-! What- what's that supposed to mean!?"

"This is such an innocent thing; I mean, I just don't get why you're so embarrassed about it, especially since your so good at it,"

"I-, it's none of your business, hero!"

"What's none of my business?"

"Why I'm so-!" the villain caught themself, blushing even harder as they glared at the hero, who had a huge smirk on their face.

"What was that?"

The villain didn't reply, glancing around the room as if scanning all the available exits.

"Don't tell me your thinking about running; that's not very like you,"

"For god sakes, will you just leave already?!"

"Hmm," the hero hummed as if considering it, "I'll tell you what, I'll leave, and I'll even give the file I nabbed back," they offered, showing off a file folder they had been hiding behind their back the entire time.

The villain's eyes widened. It was so late at night; they were basically in their pyjamas. They were unarmed, and all the guards that hadn't gone home already were purposely far away, well outside yelling range.

"If...?"

The hero smirked, "if you play for me again,"

The villain turned bright red, heart hammering in their chest. The hero had such... hopefulness in their eyes? They glanced between the piano keys, the hero's face and the folder in their hand. 

That... was a very important file...

They swallowed the lump in their throat. 

"One..." They muttered, "One song." 

"Deal!"


	21. Kind touch #4

The hero and villain got settled into bed fairly quickly, aside from the fact the villain was practically refusing to make eye contact with the hero after they had asked to sleep in the other’s bed again. 

The only thing the hero was struggling with was not teasing the villain about how absolutely adorable they were. They were so sheepish and embarrassed, all because of such a simple, innocent thing! Whenever the hero would try and meet their eyes, they would blush slightly and look away, fidgeting with their hands. The hero had to bite their lip, though, because they didn’t want to dissuade the villain from asking again in the future. 

Once the hero had climbed into bed, though, all they had to do was open their arms, and the villain quietly crawled in to cuddle up next to them, resting their head on the hero’s chest—no arguing or stubborn remarks. Within minutes, the villain was sound asleep at their side. The hero, however, was content merely laying there. They watched the villain snuggle in closer to them subconsciously in their sleep, even loosely holding onto the hero’s shirt with a hand that was resting on the other’s chest next to the villain’s head. 

There was something so special about this, these select few moments in time where the villain was truly at peace. The hero knew they didn’t trust easily and certainly didn’t give themselves over any easier. 

It was strange, seeing a villain like this. If you didn’t know them, they’d seem like any other normal person. They looked so harmless like this, wrapped in the hero’s arms. There was also this added specialness now that the villain had asked for this, instead of just being persuaded. The hero knew the villain was far from innocent, but right now, they looked the part. 

Suddenly the villain tensed in their arms, curling in on themselves. 

“Shhhh,” the hero soothed, running their fingers through the villain’s hair. What did villains have nightmares about anyway? As curious as the hero was, they weren’t going to push the other to talk about it. It made their heart ache though, knowing the villain had suffered from these nightmares almost every night since staying with the hero, and probably long before. 

Playing with the villain’s hair worked the few times the hero had seen the nightmares happening, but it didn’t seem to be doing the trick for whatever they were dreaming about this time.

“Shhh, it’s okay, you’re okay,” the hero whispered when the villain flinched in their hold again. 

Despite the hero’s efforts, the villain tensed again before suddenly jolting awake, gasping for breath as they rocketed upright, hand flying to their chest. 

The hero sat up behind them, giving the villain a moment to reorient themselves before speaking, “Are you alright?” they asked softly. Despite their tone, the villain flinched at the noise, having not realized the hero was awake at all. 

“Hey, you’re okay,” they tried. 

“I’m fine,” The villain snapped in a sharp yet slightly breathless tone, twisting away from the hero further and curling in on themselves. 

“Okay,” the hero replied softly, in a way meant to hopefully remind the villain they weren’t trying to fight. 

They seemed to get the message, because the defensiveness in the villain’s shoulders deflated, though they kept their back to the hero. 

“Excuse me for waking you up,” the villain said after a moment of silence. 

“You didn’t; I wasn’t asleep yet,” the hero replied. 

The villain turned to them in shock, scanning their face as if looking for a sign the hero was lying just to make them feel better. When they didn’t find one, however, a light blush dusted their cheeks, and they turned their head away again awkwardly at the realization the hero must have been watching them.

The hero saw the villain clench their fists where they rested in their lap.

“Are you sure you’re-”

“I should go sleep in my bed,” the villain interrupted, moving to get up, “so you can finally get some sleep and all," 

"No, wait! Please don’t!’ the hero replied in shock, a hand flying out to land the villain’s shoulder. The villain froze.

"I like having you in here,” the hero admitted, which caused the villain to look at them in shock, eyes wide.

“re-really?" 

"Yeah, I do,” the hero replied earnestly, “and even if I didn’t, you asked to sleep in here earlier,” they reminded, causing the villain to blush and look down, “Talk to me, what’s wrong?" 

The villain was shocked at just how pleading the hero sounded. 

"I just- I shouldn’t get used to this,” the villain replied quietly, wringing their hands nervously, “I’ll probably be better in a week, two max," 

"Yeah, hopefully…” the hero replied in confusion. Wasn’t getting better a good thing? “What’s wrong with that?" 

"No, that’s not- it’s just, I’m only staying here while I’m recovering or whatever, so,” The villain responded. 

Suddenly, it clicked in the hero’s head.

“Ohhhhhhhh,” the hero replied, failing to keep their amusement out of their tone. The villain’s head snapped to look at them, and they were met with the hero’s fond yet teasing smirk. 

Before the villain could reply, the hero lurched forward, wrapping their arms around the villain so they could fall back down onto the bed with them, carefully avoiding the villain’s wounds while they did. The villain was too shocked to fight back, only replying with a surprised squeak noise. 

“You don’t have to leave once you’re better if you don’t want to,” The hero stated before the villain had a chance to say something first. The hero’s voice was so fond sounding; it made the villain’s heart pound in their chest. 

“What?” the villain replied after the moment it took for their brain to catch up. 

“You don’t have to go once you’re all healed up,” the hero replied, twirling a strand of the villain’s hair gently. 

“I- well- I can’t just stay-" 

"Of course you can silly, what did you think I was going to kick you out the second all your injuries were healed?” The hero asked in amusement. 

“Well, no- but-" 

"I was actually kinda hoping you’d stay if I’m honest,” the hero admitted in a quieter, softer tone. 

Suddenly the villain pushed themselves up, just enough to see the hero’s face, “Really?" 

"Mhm," 

"Why?” the villain asked, narrowing their eyes, “Why would you want me to stay?" 

The hero gave them a lopsided slime, "What? You think villains are the only ones who enjoy having someone to cuddle with?” they joked, causing the villain to blush, “You’re quite nice to have around,” the hero went on to explain in a more serious tone, “I like talking with you, you always have something interesting to add, you’re so passionate about your interests, at least when you’re not trying to keep up that big bad persona of yours,” they teased before continuing, “Seriously, it’s going to feel so lonely without you around," 

The villain stared at them, completely dumbstruck as they struggled to process what they’d just heard.

"I-,” they shook their head, trying to get their thoughts straight, “really?” they asked in disbelief. 

The hero laughed warmly, giving the villain a smile, “Yes, really," 

The villain just continued to stare. 

"Come on,” the hero said, opening their arms as an invitation, “It’s late, we can talk about it more in the morning, but you don’t need to worry about it, okay?" 

The villain bit their lip in contemplation before nodding and settling back down, readjusting themselves so they could rest their head on the hero’s chest again. 

After a couple of minutes of silence, the villain finally spoke. 

"Thank you…” they said quietly, so quietly the hero almost didn’t hear it. 

Thank you. That was the first time the hero had ever heard the villain say it. The villain had never thanked them for anything, not that the hero required a thank you, but it was clearly something the villain didn’t just say on a whim. 

The only response the villain got, and the last thing they remembered before the world went black again, was the feeling of a gentle kiss on the top of their head while a hand continued playing with their hair.


	22. The Little Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by @literally-just-kirby’s prompt of a villain who has super cute mundane uses for their powers, and the hero slowly falls for the villains harmless civilian side. 
> 
> I know they were supposed to be small things, but, I had this idea, and it was just so cute I had to write it. I hope you enjoy it anyway and I did your prompt justice!

For a villain with so many different superpowers, they sure didn’t use them how the hero would have expected. 

In fact, while the villain would use their powers whenever they fought, the hero soon discovered they also used them for more… little things. 

The hero first noticed the weird phenomenon when they were attempting to follow the villain back to their lair. The villain had just turned down a dark ally when out of nowhere, a small stray kitten appeared from behind a nearby dumpster. 

The hero admittedly panicked a bit at first when the kitten walked up to the villain, expecting them to kick it away or something. Instead, the villain bent down, petting its head and apologizing for not having any food. When the villain stood back up, they seemed to examine the kitten for a moment before their eyes suddenly turned red. 

The hero nearly leapt out of their hiding spot, willing to blow their cover when they thought the villain was about to use laser vision to turn the poor creature to ash. But yet again, the villain did nothing of the sort. 

Instead, they had somehow managed to dial the intensity of their ordinarily devastating laser eyes down, and was using them to project a small red dot onto the pavement below, which the kitten immediately began chasing. 

Was the hero seeing this right? 

The villain that just robbed the bank on main street was using their laser vision as a laser pointer to play with a stray kitten. 

The hero was so stunned by the event that when they finally blinked back into reality, both the villain and kitten were nowhere to be seen.

———-

The next time, the hero successfully managed to follow the villain home, but instead of a dark, dank lair like they expected, it was actually a small, pretty cozy looking apartment complex. 

The hero was perched across the street on the roof, using binoculars to spy on the villain, determined to catch them in the act of something villainous. 

The first thing the hero noticed was the kitten from the alley was in the apartment! Instead of being hooked up to some torture device or the victim of some horrible science experiment, it was curled up in the villain’s lap, purring happily while they watched TV. 

The villain in question was sipping their coffee, illuminated by the glow of the tv. The hero watched the villain wave their hand, and using their telekinesis, put a bag of popcorn into the microwave. Once it was done, they poured the popcorn into a bowl, and had it float over to them. 

The hero stopped watching after that, convinced they weren’t going to see anything villainous tonight. 

The next night, the hero witnessed something much more interesting, though not in the way they had expected. 

The villain was out on their balcony painting what looked like a forest scene on a canvas. What was interesting was they only had black and white paint with them, yet their picture was vibrant. The hero very quickly realized they were using their colour manipulation powers to change the paint to the exact colour they wanted. 

The hero’s head was spinning. The villain had so many powers, so many that neither the hero nor the authorities knew all of them because the villain didn’t tend to use them in fights. How was this the same villain who was using these powers for the cutest, most mundane things? 

The hero caught themselves blushing. 

They shook their head, struggling to get their thoughts together. Which side was the real one? This harmless adorable side or the villainous bank-robbing side?

Before the hero had time to work it out, they saw the villain slip on their coat and, presumably using their telekinesis on themselves, jumped off the railing of their balcony and up onto an adjacent rooftop. As soon as they landed, they were off, running along and jumping from roof to roof as they went. Immediately, the hero took off after them, making sure not to be seen while they followed. 

Soon after, the villain landed on a flat roof next to the city’s children’s hospital. 

Okay, this would definitely settle the debate. No matter how mundane they were day to day, if they robbed a children’s hospital-

The hero’s thoughts were cut off as the villain simply sat down on the roof and pulled out their cell phone. 

Now, eavesdropping wasn’t very heroic, but if they were eavesdropping on a villain, surely the hero could get away with it?

“Hey, you! How are you feeling?” The villain asked to whoever was on the other end of the phone,

….

“That’s good. Have the doctors found anything else?”

….

“… I see. Well, Christmas is coming up soon! Have you thought about what to ask Santa for?" 

….

"I’m sure that’s something Santa can do, and don’t worry, I’m sure snow will start falling soon enough, and we’ll have a white Christmas after all. Actually… I have to run, but you should look out your window…”

Suddenly the villain hung up on whoever they were talking to and looked up at the sky. The hero watched wide-eyed as clouds began appearing out of nowhere, swirling around above the hospital. Just as quickly, small snowflakes started falling around the building. 

In the distance, the hero could make out several small shapes appearing in the many windows throughout the hospital. They could see the little smiles and some frantic jumping as more and more little heads became illuminated in windows around the complex. 

The hero felt their heart fluttering because that had to be one of the cutest things they’d ever seen.

The next day, the ‘freak snowstorm above children’s hospital’ was the headline everywhere. 

The days flew by, and the hero was witness to more and more events. They had seen the villain levitate something down off a tall shelf, summon a tiny raincloud to water a dry plant and even use their colour manipulation to change the colour and pattern of their wallpaper three times. 

However, it wasn’t until Christmas eve that the hero realized just how swept off their feet they were. 

The hero had gotten a tip, someone calling the station to say they had spotted the villain near the children’s hospital. Based on the fact nobody other than the hero knew the villain’s true identity, they must have been in their costume. 

It took the hero a couple of minutes, but they finally found the villain tucked behind a dozen boxes and a couple of dumpsters in the back of the hospital. The hero hid behind one, watching. 

The villain was walking in tight circles, hands shaking nervously as they seemed to be giving themselves a pep talk. 

“I can do this, I can do this,” They muttered under their breath quietly, shakily, “I promised. I promised her she’d see proof of real magic on Christmas eve. I do this all the time. Just because this is a bigger canvas doesn’t mean anything. I can totally do this," 

The villain stopped, and suddenly their eyes began glowing brightly. 

The way powers worked, was that the better you were at using them, and the less energy you were using, the less your eyes glowed. This villain could change their entire wallpaper without their eyes glowing, so whatever they were about to do, they were summoning a lot of power to do so. 

The villain raised their hand shakily, energy swirling around it as they reached out toward the brick wall of the hospital. They hesitated, taking a deep breath before closing their eyes and placing their hand firmly on the wall. 

Suddenly, it was as if the entire building came to life. Dull red bricks turned into a swirl of psychedelic colours and shapes. If this was what the outside of the hospital looked like, the hero could only imagine what the walls inside looked like. 

They continued watching, completely baffled as cartoon characters sprung to life, running across the walls. They watched flowers bloom and explode in a burst of colours as dragons and fairies flew by. Castles grew and faded while giants clashed swords. The iron collided, only to explode into another puff of colour and new characters, running and smiling as they went. 

It was like watching what would happen if a child’s imagination exploded onto a wall, and it was incredible.

Using their super hearing, the hero could hear all the gasps, giggles and cheers from inside. 

Suddenly the ever-moving and ever-changing images flickered, and the hero glanced over at the villain, whose eyes were still pinned shut, though their face had turned into a grimace. 

The show continued for another almost full thirty seconds, before everything finally faded out. The villain gasped, struggling to catch their breath, wobbling on their feet as they pulled their hand back away from the wall. They swayed again, until they just gave in, falling against the brick wall and sliding down to sit against it clumsily. 

"Hey, take it easy,” The hero said, slipping out of their hiding spot. 

The villain’s eyes widened in panic, “Don’t- don’t- I haven’t,” they stuttered in between breaths. 

“I know, it’s okay, I’m not here to arrest you; just relax," 

The villain continued staring, looking the hero up and down for a moment, before realizing they didn’t have any other choice but to believe the hero. Their posture relaxed, looking away. 

"That was, I mean, I don’t even have words…" 

"It’s nothing,” The villain grumbled, “Do it all the time," 

"Oh, I know,” The hero replied casually, leaning against a nearby stack of crates, “You’ve changed your wallpaper three times this week," 

The villain’s head snapped to look at the hero in shock, "how… how do you…" 

"You did rob a bank,” the hero replied, giving a small amused smirk, “I know your new to this but, you must have expected we would at least monitor you?" 

The villain just continued staring, speechless. 

"How the kitten?” the hero asked, “Have you decided on a name? They must be better off with you than they were in that ally at least," 

Somehow, the villain’s eyes widened even more, though a light blush dusted their cheeks. 

"I saw you in the ally,” The hero explained, a small smile on their face, “By the way, that has to be the cutest use for laser vision I’ve ever seen," 

The villain’s face immediately lit up like a fire truck, causing the hero to laughing.

"Honestly,” they continued, “You have the cutest, most mundane uses for all your powers. Stormcloud to water plants? I mean, where did you even come up with that one?" 

The villain opened their mouth to reply but winced, and a hand flew up to their forehead. 

"You really overdid yourself that time, huh?" 

The villain’s eyes snapped open, the hero’s voice coming from much closer. Sure enough, the hero was crouched next to them, concern was written across their face. 

"m-maybe” the villain admitted, before everything went black. 

When the villain woke up, they heard the usual sound of purring from their chest. They opened their eyes to find themselves in their apartment, tucked into bed. A note on the nearby lampshade hung above a plate with a slice of toast and a glass of water. 

*I’ll see you again soon, get some rest, -hero*


	23. Get Your Blood Pumping Pt #4

The hero sighed contently as the midnight breeze blew past them. They watched the cars and other late-night city bustle below them from their position on the rooftop, leaning their forearms onto a brick half-wall overlooking the streets. 

“Boo~," 

The hero nearly jumped out of their skin at the sudden noise, whirling around to see the villain standing a couple of meters behind them, hands clasped behind their back and that amused and stupidly charming smirk on their face. 

"Jesus,” the hero huffed, a hand on their chest as they tried to calm their racing heart. 

“Nope, just me,” the villain joked, smirk only growing at the hero’s annoyed groan, “Someones jumpy,” they mused. 

“Yeah, well, can you blame me? The last time someone snuck up on me…” the hero replied before trailing off, hand subconsciously coming to touch the still healing bite mark on their neck. 

The villain hummed in understanding, slowly strolling up to lean on the half-wall next to the hero, who also resumed the position. 

“How is that healing up?" 

"Good, I guess,” the hero shrugged, “I don’t exactly have any..uh… experience in the matter," 

The villain snorted a laugh at that, "Not many people would, especially not like yours," 

"What do you mean?" 

"Most bites usually don’t hurt very much, if at all. It can depend on many things, but if the vampire is doing it right, it shouldn’t be much more painful than a needle and should only leave two to four small holes, depending on if the vampire is using their bottom fangs, which isn’t usual for humans. Anyway, the fangs were ripped out of your neck. That dosen’t happen unless another vampire interrupts or something," 

"I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t hurt, considering what it felt like last time,” the hero replied, subconsciously rubbing their neck.

“Yeah, I can imagine what yours felt like,” the villain replied sympathetically. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” the hero said after a moment of silently watching the cars, “If you’re a… ya know… don’t you need blood?”

“Can’t bring yourself to say vampire?” the villain asked in amusement, turning to look at the hero with a raised eyebrow, “especially considering you were kissing one-" 

"blood! Don’t you need to drink blood!?” the hero asked again, frantically cutting the other off.

The vampire laughed, looking back at the road below them, “Obviously, that’s kind of in the vampire equivalent of a job description," 

"How do you…?” the hero asked uncertainly. They weren’t sure what they were uncertain about, though. The question or the answer? 

“Depends,” the other replied, “I’m not one for feeding on random civilians. There are a few people who offer, actually, on the rare occasion. Those are a good treat, as human blood is much tastier, but my regular diet mostly consists of animal blood,”

“That’s… surprisingly comforting," 

The villain chuckled, turning to look at them again, "Why? I told you I wasn’t going to bite you unless you asked," 

"That won’t happen, no offence," 

"Is that a challenge?" 

The hero sputtered, causing the villain to laugh again. 

They stood quietly watching the cars below together for the next few minutes. The hero’s head was racing. They hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the last time they’d seen the villain. Had they been saved by a killer? This villain was relatively new in town, so the hero didn’t know all that much about their criminal history. Now that they knew they weren’t saved by a human juicing machine, did that change things? The hero remembered the kissing; though it never went any further, they had still been making out on the couch. Did that make it okay? The villain was still just that- a villain! The hero couldn’t possibly be with them, could they? 

If the hero’s feelings were so wrong, though, why did they feel so good with the villain round? The villain had swept them up and off their feet like nobody else had before. Sure they’d been in love but, this… this was different.

Wait. Love?

They were not in love with the villain! This was a crush! Like a teenager in high school! And nothing more!

But that kiss, well… the hero would be lying if they said they didn’t kind of want to do it again. But they had no idea what to do! Where did they even stand with the villain now?! This situation was already weird. Prior to the villain saving the hero, they’d never just been in each other’s presence. Certainly without fighting at all. Were they friends? 

Their thoughts drifted back to the first kiss. Seeing the villain lean in towards them- 

The hero felt their heart fluttering again and wait-

Uh oh…

Too late, the villain’s head turned to look at them—some unreadable emotion hidden behind the amusement in their eyes. 

"My my kitten, where are those thoughts of yours wandering? You’re hearts fluttering like a butterfly," 

"Just thinking about the last time we were together,” the hero replied, trying and failing to keep their voice steady and casual. That was as close as they could get to admitting it without saying it exactly.

“Oh really?” the villain purred, amusement growing in their tone, “Which part?" 

The hero glared out of the corner of their eye, "You know which part," 

"Ohhhh,” the villain hummed, standing up from leaning their elbows on the wall to resting their hands on it, “What about it?" 

"I…” the hero stumbled, “not sure, to be honest…" 

"I have to ask; I don’t have much experience with saving people but, is that how people usually thank their saviours?” the villain teased, relishing in the blush settling on the hero’s face, “because if making out on my couch is an accepted form of ‘thank you’ I may have to take up this 'hero’ business more often," 

The hero sputtered, cheeks a vibrant red. Wait. Did that mean-? 

The hero stopped, looking at the villain with wide eyes, "Is that you trying to say you want to do it again?" 

The villain looked at them with a mischievous and almost hungry smirk, "well kitten, you're heart certainly seems excited at the prospect," 

The hero hadn’t even realized their heart was pounding at the idea. They somehow blushed more, taking a step back as the villain took one forward. 

"I- well- that isn’t-” they fumbled, continuing to walk backward until they hit the full brick wall behind them. 

The villain continued to take casual steps towards them, highly amused by the hero’s actions if their face was any indication. 

“What’s wrong, kitten? First, you want to kiss, and now you’re running away,” they tried to sound disappointed, and were failing, amusement too evident in their tone. 

“I am not!” the hero defended, heart hammering. What would they be running from? The villain? were they even still scared of the villain? Should they still be afraid of the villain? There was still a vampire in front of them; why was there no danger alarm bells ringing in their head? The only alarms that were ringing in their head were-

When had the villain gotten that close?!

The vampire leaned forward, resting their weight on the hands that bracketed against the brick wall on either side of the hero, trapping them in place. 

Suddenly the villain’s face fell serious, “If you don’t want me to, and I’m misreading the situation, tell me now,” they instructed. 

And well.. the hero wasn’t sure what to say. They weren’t… against it happening, were they? Should they be? There were repercussions to this, surely!? 

“Kitten, breath,” the villain said softly, taking their hands off the wall to give the hero a little more room, and setting a gentle hand on the hero’s chest, above their racing heart, “Stop overthinking, just focus on right now, you can deal with anything else later, okay?" 

"Yeah,” the hero replied shakily, taking a deep breath. Yeah. They could do that. Just focus on right now. 

And right now…? Well… right now, what they were thinking about…

The hero stepped forward before the villain could react, closing the distance and bringing their lips together again, wrapping their arms around the villain’s shoulders. 

They could think more about this later. It didn’t have to mean anything right now. Because right now, it felt right. And heroes always tried to do the right thing after all.


	24. Kind touch #5

The villain lurched awake, some cry coming from their throat as they did. Their fists clutched the blankets tightly, angrily, as they pinned their eyes shut. This was the first nightmare they’d had in weeks. It also just so happened to be the first night that the hero wasn’t sleeping beside them. 

They groaned, running their fingers through their hair. This was pathetic. They were a villain! Or at least, they used to be. They weren’t quite sure what they were now, but regardless, people used to cower in fear in front of them! A hero sleeping next to them should NOT be something they needed! 

And yet… here they were. 

In the back of their mind, they found themselves wondering how much better the hero was fairing. Did they miss sleeping next to the villain? 

Wait.

No. Miss was the wrong word. The villain did not miss the hero. 

Except they did. 

Everything was just so different now. The villain agreed to give heroism a try, so the hero let them tag along for some of their smaller missions. It was fine until other people showed up. Strangers come to thank them, other heroes, all of which still looked at the villain warily. Their instinct was to go back to being scary. If the villain wanted people to hate them, everything was simple. Things like the opinion of others meant nothing to a villain. But now, suddenly, with people genuinely thanking them, showing gratitude, even looking relieved when they showed up with the hero, it made the villain’s insides twist. It felt right and wrong all at the same time. The worst part was it was unknown. They were entirely out of their element, and sure, the fighting was the same, just on the opposite team, but everything else? Unknow. And like most unknown things, it felt dangerous. 

They were happy, though, happier than they could remember being, having someone like the hero in their life, no longer running from the law or being afraid of being stabbed in their sleep. Still, it was unnerving, all the change. Helping people for a change felt good. It was nice to have friends, have people who cared for you. It was just… a drastically contrasting change. 

So.. yes. Maybe the villain clung to the comfort the hero’s presence offered.

The villain huffed out a laugh at themselves. Clingy. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. 

They flopped back down into the bed they shared with the hero. Once the villain was fully healed, they agreed to move in with the hero. Not that they needed much convincing despite how much they acted like they did, the villain didn’t really want to leave. The hero made them happy, sue them. 

They had their own room in the hero’s house. The villain had their own bed, though it wasn’t like they ever used it. Whenever they tried, the hero would pout until the villain caved and agreed to sleep with them again. Yeah, that was the only reason. That’s also why they were in the hero’s room while the hero wasn’t even home. Yep. Definitely. 

The villain huffed, had they become reliant on the hero? They didn’t think it was that bad; they could survive on their own again if they had to, though they really didn’t want to. The villain had just lost so many things in their life already. They really didn’t want to lose this too. 

Great. There were two reasons the villain was getting clingy: the hero made them feel safe and grounded, and the villain was afraid to lose them. 

Suffice to say, they didn’t get much sleep that night. 

The next day when the hero returned, the villain was more relieved to see them than they would like to admit. 

They exchanged their usual greetings while they got ready to make supper. 

The regular house routine was much more domestic and mundane than one might expect after hearing a hero and a villain lived there. If they both weren’t pitching in to make supper, they would take turns. The hero would do the dishes while the villain cleaned up the table and leftovers. There was small talk, usually about the weather or the next job the hero had, and when the hero thought the villain could come along. 

The hero, however, noticed something was off tonight. The villain was shakier than usual, fidgeting and quieter. They were doing the thing where they tapped their toes against the floor rhythmically, which the hero had realized early on was a tell-tale sign the villain was nervous or stressed about something. 

It wasn’t until later that night, when they were just climbing into bed for the night the hero decided to broach the topic. 

“So, what happened while I was gone?” the hero asked, brushing their fingers through the villain’s hair. 

The villain, who was lying in their normal position against the hero’s chest suddenly tensed. 

“Nothing interesting,” they replied casually, shrugging, “business as normal," 

"We both know that’s not true," 

The villain froze. 

"I’m not going to force you to tell me,” the hero reassured, “but I can tell something is off," 

"Is it really that obvious?” the villain muttered under their breath, fidgeting with their sleeve. 

“To me it is," 

The villain sighed, turning over onto their back, their head resting more on the villain’s upper arm now than their chest as they stared at the ceiling. 

"It’s stupid…" 

"Alright, now I know it’s important if it’s enough to bring out that old ‘big bad’ persona," 

The villain groaned in mock annoyance, but the fondness in it was apparent. They had grown a lot more comfortable around each other in the last few weeks, and joking around with each other had become a lot more normal. 

Still, the villain let out a relenting sigh, knowing their silence was only going to worry the hero more.

"I just had another nightmare last night, that’s all, nothing special,”

“Damn,” the hero replied, gliding their thumb back and forth soothingly along the villain’s side where their hand lay, “That’s your first one in a while, isn’t it?" 

"It’s only the second one I’ve had since I started sleeping in here…” the villain practically whispered. 

“So you were in here last night! I was wondering about that; which bed you’d end up in," 

The villain sputtered, blushing, "It was just- like- out of habit!" 

"Mhm…” the hero hummed, twirling the villain’s bangs through their fingers aimlessly.

“Shut up,” the villain muttered, which made the hero laugh. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” the hero asked after a moment of silence. 

“About what?”

“Your nightmare," 

"Not really,”

“Is that a 'not really’ because you don’t want to talk about it or because it’s embarrassing?”

The villain could feel themselves blushing. It was completely unfair how good the hero had gotten at reading them.

The villain sighed, “Promise you won’t laugh?" 

"I promise,”

“I…” the villain hesitated but continued when they felt the hero’s hand brush through their hair encouragingly, “I dreamt you got hurt and didn’t come back, okay?!” They blurted out before they talked themselves out of it. 

The following beat of silence was deafening until the hero spoke again. 

“oh…” they whispered, barely audible. 

Suddenly the arms around them tightened, but the villain just kept going, determined to 'get it out' before they changed their mind. 

“It’s just- I’ve lost so many people, so many things, I’m just so accustomed to it, and I don’t wanna- well- lose you too,” they nearly choked on the words but forced them out none the less, “especially right now since I apparently can’t sleep soundly without you being next to me, which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard because you have far better things to do than hang around and babysit me all day-" 

"but-" 

"And yet the selfish part of me still wants you to stay close by anyway, just so I don’t start worrying about you, which is stupid to be doing to begin with," 

"that’s-”

“It’s stupid.” the villain huffed, “It’s all just… stupid," 

"There is absolutely nothing stupid about any of that,” the hero replied sternly yet softly. Suddenly the arms around them pulled them upward, and the villain let out a surprised squeak as they were drawn to be up against the hero’s chest again. They settled comfortably, though, subconsciously snuggling closer to the warmth of the hero next to them. 

“First of all, there is a lot changing in your life right now. If you need to be 'clingy’ for a little bit while you adjust, I don’t mind at all. If anything, I’m pretty flattered my presence makes you feel safe, sense I know trust isn’t something you give easily. You make it sound like I wouldn’t want the excuse to be around you more often,” the hero laughed before continuing, “Secondly, it’s normal to worry about people you care about, even more so given the dangers in our line of work and especially when you’ve lost people in the past. If it makes you feel any better, you weren’t the only one who had trouble sleeping last night. I was laying in bed worrying about you, despite the fact you are more than capable of taking care of yourself," 

"Really?" 

"Mhm,” the hero hummed in reply, running their fingers through the villain’s hair again.

“Let me start coming with you on all your missions,” the villain offered. 

“What!?” the hero replied in shock. 

“Think about it. We’ll be with each other and protecting each other, so we aren’t as worried," 

"Yeah, but-" 

"I’ve kicked your butt more than once; you and I both know I’m more than capable of holding my own, especially against other villains," 

"I know…" 

"Come on,” the villain encouraged, rolling over onto their stomach so they could look at the hero, “I’m getting bored. If this hero stuff doesn’t pick up soon, I might have to go rob a bank,” they joked. 

“Okay, okay,” the hero chuckled quietly, “Maybe I’ve been getting protective too,” they admitted, “What if you come with me tomorrow?" 

"Deal," 

They both got a much better night’s sleep that night.


	25. The Gift of Panic Pt #9

Rhys didn’t like to brag, but as far as he was concerned, he thought he was pretty good at his job.

Especially considering he had no special powers, he was pretty good at taking down villains, both big and small. He was a quick thinker, a good fighter, and usually got villains under control within a reasonable timeframe.

He had never arrested a villain as quickly as he did with Silver’s help.

Thorne and her armed lackeys must have been defeated and rounded up in less than half the time it would typically take. The hero could only imagine how much quicker it would have been if he hadn’t made Silver promise not to kill anyone.

Thorne was a good villain. She was quick on the draw, well balanced, and very good at parkour, often luring her opponent up onto the tops of buildings where her jumping and balancing skills could give her an edge. Her superpower was, as her name suggested, thorns and spiky plants, being able to grown prickly sharp vines from her fingertips at will.

But unluckily for her, she was expecting the hero to be alone. Rhys had warned the police department not to arrest Silver, who told him that he would meet the hero there.

Rhys had arrived on the scene and had just finished taking down two of Thorne’s lackeys. Out of the corner of his eye, Rhys saw Thorne appear in the bank’s main door, starting to make a run for it, a bag of money slung over her shoulder.

She didn’t get very far, though, because suddenly, Silver appeared out of nowhere, and with one solid blow, she was out cold on the concrete. Rhys wasn’t even sure where Silver had even been hiding because one second he wasn’t there, and the next, he was standing over her unconscious body, dusting off his hands.

“There are seven more lackeys in the bank; I knocked one out by the back door, two are out cold in the hallway, and the rest I locked in the vault. I hope someone here has a code or at least a way to pass food into them,”

“That’s… not even funny…” Rhys replied, catching his breath.

“You’re smiling,”

Oh shit, was he?

The hero rolled his eyes, giving in to the fond smile that broke out on his face, “So,” he asked in a joking, teasing tone, “How’s it feel to be a hero?”

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know,” Silver replied, a sly smirk on his face, “How’s it feel to be a villain?”

“I don’t know; you’ll have to tell me over coffee,”

They stared at each other for a minute before they both broke out laughing at the ridiculousness of not only the situation but conversation.

Suddenly, Thorne twitched on the pavement, slowly coming back to life.

Before the hero could react, Silver pulled out his own pair of handcuffs, bending down to cuff the other villain before she fully came to.

“Where did you get those?” Rhys asked in confusion, recognizing them as police cuffs.

Silver shot him a look, eyes full of mischief and amusement, “For legal reasons, I feel it’s best I keep my mouth shut,” he replied as he stood back up, clasping his hands behind his back before adding a sarcastic, “though I will say, if one of you police buddies finds they are missing their handcuffs, definitely don’t come looking for me. Greater good and all that,”

They both laughed again.

“Well, thank you for your help. I’ll need to go with the police to file all the reports,”

“Ah yes, paperwork. I should probably get back to see to how things at the Grandwell warehouse is coming along,”

Rhys smiled, turning to inform a nearby officer of the henchmen in the vault.

“Oh hey,” Rhys piped up right as the other was about to walk away, “You free for a movie night this Friday? I’ll make popcorn,”

An amused smirk made its way onto Silver’s lips like he was trying to hold back a smile and failing, “I suppose I could postpone my own bank robbery,”


	26. The Gift of Panic Pt #10

“Honestly, I don’t know how you managed it,” Thorne remarked as she lounged in the cell behind the hero. Rhys was currently sitting at a desk, finishing the paperwork for all the Grandwell lackeys Silver’s men had brought in, along with Thorne and all her accomplices. 

“What do you mean?" 

"With Silver,” she replied as if it was obvious, “I still can’t believe it, you of all people managed to befriend Silver…" 

"Yeah, people keep saying that,” Rhys replied almost uninterestedly as he circled something else on the page, “Seems to have caused quite the stir," 

Thorne snorted an indignant laugh, "You have no idea. Most of us are admittedly just jealous. Almost every villain in town has at least tried to befriend Silver once. I don’t know what’s more infuriating; the fact you were the one who managed it or that you’re not using it to rule this city. It’s almost a shame, all that potential gone to waste," 

"Okay, slow down,” Rhys replied, setting the pen down on the table and spinning around in the office chair to face the villain, “Why would other villains want to befriend him so badly?”

“Is that even a question?” Thorne replied in confusion.

“Humor me,” the hero replied, walking up to the bars of the cell. 

Thorne stood up, “Do you have any idea what some of us would be capable of with Silver by our side? We could uproot this entire city. Hell, he could probably do that even without one of us," 

"He’s only one guy,” Rhys replied in an unconvinced tone, “I mean, sure he’s powerful, he’s got a lot of influence in the city, but-”

“Powerful?” Thorne replied before all emotion seemed to drain from her face, “You- you have no idea, do you?" 

"What?”

Thorne walked up to the hero suddenly, grabbing Rhys by the collar and yanking him up against the bars of the cell, “Powerful is an insult. You’ve got the equivalent of a nuclear bomb on a leash buddy,” she said, eyes intense and firey until she let go, shoving Rhys away, “How much do you even know about him, hero?”

“I know enough!”

“Do you know about the bomb?” She asked, eyes piercing. 

“Yes,” Rhys replied plainly, crossing his arms. 

Her head tilted, “Do you know what happened to the ones who were responsible?" 

"Uh, he said he ‘got his revenge,’ I don’t know the exact details," 

Thorne snorted another laugh, "Of course, that explains it," 

"What are you talking about?!” Rhys snapped. 

“You wanna know? Ask your new buddy Silver what happened to the Brass Razors," 

————————————

Rhys sighed as he closed the file folder on his desk at the station, finally finished all the paperwork. His thoughts drifted back to his conversation with Thorne earlier. How much was there that he didn’t know about Silver? Thorne had been dragged off to processing before he could really question her further. 

The hero groaned, slipping on his coat. Was Silvers past even something he wanted to go digging into? What if he found something he didn’t like? Obviously, Rhys knew Silver was a villain; of course, he’d done some bad things in the past, but was that the same Silver he knew now? Did that make being his friend okay? He was still a villain. And yet, he listened when Rhys asked him not to kill anyone; he even helped stop a bank robbery! Surely, whoever Silver was before he met Rhys wouldn’t have aided the police. 

Yet, Thorne’s words kept bouncing around in his mind; ”You’ve got the equivalent of a nuclear bomb on a leash,“ 

She had to be exaggerating, right? She was a villain too! She was probably just messing with his head, trying to get under his skin, make him question his friendship with Silver. She had even outright said she was jealous!

The hero flipped up his hood, walking out into the cool evening air as he glanced at his watch. It was only six; there was time to swing by the warehouse and see how things were going. Should Rhys ask the villain about what Thorne said? 

The bottom line was whether or not Rhys trusted Silver. Should he? Regardless of whether he should or not, the truth was that he did. Friends trusted friends. Silver had shown a tremendous amount of trust in Rhys already, not only showing him but inviting him into where he lived, taking him to the very scene of one of his crimes, trusting the hero not to turn him in. Friendship was a two-way street, and Rhys had to give Silver the same trust he received. It wasn’t like he had any reason not to, after all. 

So then why did the hero feel this sense of unease in his stomach? 

Around twenty minutes later, he was walking in through the two large warehouse doors. Rhys spotted a couple of silvers men dotted around the area. The second any of them would lay eyes on him, however, they would scurry off. 

"Hey, excuse me,” he greeted to a young woman who hadn’t noticed him. She tensed, spinning around. 

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” the hero apologized, offering her a friendly smile. 

She simply nodded, but Rhys didn’t miss the way she took a small step back while she did. 

“Did you need something, sir?" 

"Oh, I was just wondering if Silver was around?" 

"You’ll find him upstairs, sir,” she replied, “If that’s all, I have somewhere I need to be if you’ll excuse me," 

"Of course, thank you," 

She gave another nod before quickly walking off. 

Before Rhys could think on it further, he heard Silver’s voice from one of the walkways high up above the warehouse. 

"Yes, that’s fine! Let me know if you find anything else!” He called down to one of his henchmen.

“yes, sir!” they replied, before walking off with a cardboard box of something. 

The hero had just rounded the corner of some large crates when the villain’s eyes spotted him. 

“Oh, would you look who it is! Don’t tell me you missed me already,” Silver called down with a smirk, leaning casually onto the metal railing of the catwalk. 

Rhys couldn’t help by smile fondly, “Just thought I’d check-in, see how everything was going," 

The villain rolled his eyes, but his face still wore a smile, "Ah yes, I need to remember I’m talking to a hero. Things like 'checking in’ on others are commonplace," 

"You’ll get used to it!” Rhys called back playfully.

Silver didn’t even respond and instead suddenly gripped the iron bar with one hand and swung both his legs over, vaulting over the railing and plummeting downward. 

Rhys let out a shocked yelp of panic, convinced Silver was about the get seriously hurt, because… well, he must have been at least two stories up!

Yet, when he reached about half a story above the ground, the villain somehow slowed in the air, colliding with the floor below no faster than if he’d jumped from only a few meters up. 

Silver dusted himself off for a moment before glancing up at the hero, who was staring at him in complete awe and confusion. 

“What?” Silver chuckled, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow at the look on the hero’s face. 

“What… how…” Rhys stumbled, causing the villain to burst out in amused laughter. 

“Normally, I wouldn’t have let anyone see that nevermind tell them how, but I have a habit of making exceptions for you,” the villain replied with a smirk before lifting their foot slightly, turning it back and forth in the air as if gesturing with it, “Iron soled shoes," 

Trust. The villain trusted them.

"Alright, I need to confess, I did come here for something other than just checking in,” Rhys admitted.

Silver’s brows furrowed at the abrupt change of subject, “Yeah? What’s that?”

“Well, Thorne was saying some weird things back at the station, and it’s just, one of the things she said has kinda been stuck on my mind," 

"Okay…? Why do I have a bad feeling about where this is going?" 

"She told me to ask you what happened to the Brass Razors,”

Suddenly everything around them appeared to fall still as the colour seemed to drain from Silver’s face. His entire posture deflated like a cheap swimming pool floatie as he let out a deep, resigning sigh, closing his eyes as he did so and turning his head away. 

“I knew this was going to come eventually," 

"Is it the reason all the other villains seem so scared of you?”

The villain chewed on his lip contemplatively. 

“I won’t force you to-,” Rhys went to reassure, but Silver cut him off. 

“No. No, you deserve to know the truth. We should find somewhere a little more private to have this conversation, though,”

The hero nodded and followed the villain as they weaved through a couple of corridors and climbed a few sets of stairs until they went through a final door and walked out onto the roof. 

“Was coming all the way up here really necessary?” Rhys asked, trying for a playful tone. 

Silver shrugged as he walked over to the roof’s edge, “Maybe not, but I don’t wanna risk anyone else hearing about it. Either way, it helps add to the dramatic mood,” he added, joking, sitting down to dangle his feet above the city below. 

“Fair point,” the hero agreed, sitting down next to the other. 

The chill of the night air blew past them. Despite the bright city lights, Rhys could manage to pick out a few stars in the dark sky above them. The warm glow of the streetlights below illuminated the villain’s face next to him, and the hero felt something akin to deja-vu. For the first time since it happened, Silver looked nervous. Anxious and uncomfortable. Smaller, somehow, like the aura of power he usually exhibited, had been replaced with air so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

“The last time I saw you look that nervous has to have been way back when I first learned about the incident. Is this story really that bad?" 

To his surprise, Silver snorted a laugh, shaking his head, "You need to remember who your talking to,” he replied, watching the world below him, “My definition of bad is probably different than yours. It’s not like I derailed a train full of children and puppies. Though it certainly isn’t that good," 

"That doesn’t mean much, though,” the hero replied without missing a beat, “I mean, I’ve heard people give the same description about grocery store sushi, so." 

Silver fell into quiet yet startled laughter, shaking his head fondly. Rhys had to smile at his ability to make the villain feel better, even in bad situations. 

For a few moments, they both fell quiet until Silver took a deep breath and began speaking. 

"So, I know you know about the bomb,” he began, “And I’m sure your smart enough to have connected the dots that the Brass Razors were the ones responsible," 

The hero hummed in agreement. 

"You don’t have any powers, do you?” Silver asked, seemingly out of nowhere. 

“Uh, no, not to my knowledge anyway," 

"How much do you know about them? About how they work?" 

"Uhhh, not much?”

“Well, I won’t bore you but, they can be tricky. They can also react and go off to emotion. Anyway, when I was a child, mine were… volatile, to say the least. I know you’ve figured out my first power is metal kinesis, but my second is electricity. Those are a very deadly combination," 

"Yeah, I can think of some ways those might not go together so well,” Rhys admitted. 

“My actual childhood didn’t exactly help. Bad parents, bad school life, I’m sure you’ve heard the sob stories before. But back then, I would accidentally hurt people all the time. I was a baby and nearly killed both myself and my parents in a car crash. They were arguing and screaming in the front seat, and suddenly the entire car swerved off the road. We were lucky it only hit a tree. I won’t bore you with the details but, I learned early on people didn’t like my powers, so, I tried to never use them. I just suppressed everything. Emotions included," 

"I’m so sorry,” the hero replied gently, “That’s awful," 

The villain just shrugged, "It’s whatever now. It’s in the past, and it wasn’t all bad, I suppose. But now I guess you know why I don’t like putting my men in danger. Kids need parents, so no one else has to turn into me,” he replied, looking down at his hands, “Not that it was all their fault either but,” he took a deep breath, “that’s a story for another day, but now you know my sad, pathetic origin story, so-" 

"No, no. I’m going to stop you there,” Rhys interrupted. 

The villain looked at him in confusion. 

“Nothing about any of that is pathetic. End of discussion," 

Silver huffed, rolling his eyes. However, he wore a small smile regardless.

"Anyway, maybe we can talk about the details of my childhood another time, but the point was that was when the emotion and power suppression began. It was early on, though I didn’t do it to please anyone or get them to like me; it was mainly because all emotions or powers ever brought me was more headaches. The bomb thing happened years later, when I was relatively new to the villain world, but my fighting and business skills helped me grow quickly. Quick enough to be considered a threat to the Brass Razors. So, they sent the present. The person who…" 

"You don’t have to-" 

"It was my childhood friend.” the villain forced himself to say suddenly, “He was… well, my only friend, I guess. Anyway, the gift arrived in the mail, and I don’t know what possessed him to open it but, he did, and, well…” he took a deep, shaky breath, “I heard the explosion from way down the hall. He was already unconscious by the time I got there. He uh, he died in my arms," 

Rhys looked at Silver in shock, by the villain was simply looking in front of himself, staring off into the horizon almost distantly. In the warm glow of the street lights below, Rhys could make out the single tear the fell on Silver’s cheek. 

"Anyways,” the villain said suddenly, sniffing and wiping his cheek as he cleared his throat, “Despite everything, I still managed to keep it all inside somehow, motivated by the determination to find who was responsible and absolutely destroy them. I refused to admit it was revenge or hurt that was fueling it, though. I treated it like a business venture, like a country responding to a declaration of war. I tried to keep it professional as I searched, lying to everyone, including myself, that the reasons were strictly non-personal. I planned. I planned about how I would take apart every aspect of this person’s life and leave them with nothing, all so that they couldn’t interfere with business again," 

Rhys wasn’t sure what to say. What could he say? Nothing would make the situation better. The hero tried to put himself in Silvers’s shoes. All the pain, devastation. Obviously, he would want revenge, but would he want to do more than just get legal justice? Had he been reading a novel, he would have unapologetically rooted for the villain to get justice. Hell, in some stories, the villain might have even been written as a hero. 

But this wasn’t a novel. These were real lives they were talking about.

"About a week later, I finally found out who it was. I was coming home one night and found a note on my door. It began by apologizing for the bad birthday present, saying they were wrong to think so little of me. They were impressed by the fact I quote, "Willingly risked one of my own, having them open the present before me to ensure it was safe.” They went on to say they had decided to make up for it by giving me a truly good present, which was their offer to hire me,“ 

"That’s… so sick and twisted…” Rhys muttered in disbelief. 

Suddenly the hero saw the villain’s hands clench into fists in his lap, knuckles white with tension. 

“They insinuated that I choose to… the audacity to assume I intentionally-” he took a deep breath, fists and posture relaxing a bit as he regathered himself, “The note was signed: Sincerely head of the Brass Razors," 

There was a pause, the only sounds being the distant bustling of the city below. "The second I saw that name, all the planning I had done went out the window. I saw who was responsible, and the only thing I could see was red. I didn’t even enter my house; I turned right around and went straight to their headquarters on Vincent boulevard along the coast. I had called one of my men whom I knew had connections to them and lied about wanting to talk to the boss. He told me where the building was, and he also said all the higher-ups were there for a meeting that night. It was this sizeable office-type building away from all the others, at the end of the street with a winding driveway that went past the beach until rounding back to the top of the hill overlooking the ocean," 

"It… was??” Rhys asked in confusion. 

Silver huffed a laugh, “It’s uh… no longer standing, shall we say. I walked up to that building and… I let all hell break loose," 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, up until this point, I still hadn’t used my powers, especially in villainy or around others. However, that night there were also a few people outside the complex. There were about twenty or so members in the parking lot, gathered around to discuss something while four guards stood by the main doors, not that I even got that far. I-" 

Suddenly the villain cut himself off and fell quiet, hands tightening their grip on the edge of the roof. 

"Silver…” Rhys prompted quietly, “What? What did you do?" 

"I let go,” he replied simply, taking a deep, shaky yet steadying breath before continuing, “I was tired, tired of holding it all back. So I let the dam come tumbling down and watched it flood. Everything came bubbling to the surface, and I let it, encouraged it even, and I felt it all. Every tear I’d held back when dealing with my drugged parents, every fist I didn’t throw in school, every bit of the sorrow and regret of losing my friend… every insult, every failure, nightmare, fear; every ounce of pain and anger that I had ever suppressed. For the first time since I was six, I let myself feel; I made myself feel," 

He paused for another moment. 

"My memory of what actually happened is kind of fuzzy. I remember electrical devices started exploding first. A lamp post blew, then a cellphone in someone’s purse, then a generator. I remember a nearby car suddenly erupting into flames. Then people started shooting. I just remember the sound of all the gunshots going off, but I never got hit once. I’m not entirely sure how. Bullets are metal, so it’s possible I deflected them, but…" 

"What other explanation could there be?" 

"There are rumours that they were incinerated by electricity I had whipping around me,” Silver explained, shrugging as if that was some kind of everyday feat! “I heard someone say it was like I was standing in the middle of an ‘energy tornado’,” the villain explained, making bunny ears at the description. 

“Holy crap…” Rhys muttered, stunned at the mental image of such a thing. 

“I don’t remember one way the other,” Silver explained with a shrug, “the next thing I remember was my vision going white. I remember zeroing in on the building, focusing all the emotion and pain onto it,”

Suddenly the villain’s face turned hard, “And I ripped that building up by its god damn foundations,” he explained, tone almost close to a cold snarl, before taking a breath, so his voice returned to normal.

“I can’t remember what I was thinking at the moment, if at all. It was all just.. so much. In the end, the entire building went the way of Atlantis," 

"Wait- you mean you-?" 

"Yep. I somehow managed to launch it out to sea," 

Rhys stared, eyes wide. For the first time since they sat down, Silver glanced over at the hero. 

"I mean-! I’m not sure how far- it’s not like I sent it cascading into the horizon or anything!” He sputtered in response to whatever look was on Rhys’ face. 

“All I know is where ever it ended up; the water was deep enough that I couldn’t see the place once it sank. I managed to get myself home somehow before collapsing,” he continued, “Luckily, it was late at night, and the only other people around were other criminals, so it never made it to the press. Criminals are good at spreading rumours, though, and this one spread like wildfire. I’m not surprised it was Thorne who broke it to you though, she was one of the villains there that night in the parking lot,”

“Well, at least I now understand what she meant…” Rhys replied almost mindlessly. 

“What do you mean?" 

"She told me I had the equivalent of a quote 'nuclear bomb on a leash,” the hero recited, before sputtering, “I get the bomb part, I mean! not the other part- I’m not trying to control you or anything!" 

Silver laughed in amusement, shaking his head fondly, "No? That’s good. Leashes aren’t really my thing anyway; clashes with the suit," 

This time it was Rhys turn to laugh.

"Anyway,” the villain continued, “That’s pretty much the story. It’s not that I’m… ashamed of it… and I certainly don’t regret getting my revenge. It’s just not something I’m proud of either. Emotions and powers are messy things. Still, they are a part of who I am, which is why I’ve started using them a bit, usually when others aren’t around," 

"I know what you’re afraid is about to happen,” Rhys said suddenly, “What you and probably Thorne thought would follow, but my opinion of you hasn’t changed," 

Silver’s head snapped to look at him, eyes wide with shock, "What?" 

"You’re a villain,” Rhys shrugged, “I know that. I knew it before we were friends. You might not be a good person, but I don’t think you’re an evil one either,” the hero looked over at the other, “I’m still your friend," 

The villain blushed and looked away, but Rhys caught the smile on his face, "good… That’s good…" 

The hero bumped his shoulder against the other playfully, "And hey, if I ever need help moving furniture around-" 

"Oh my god," 

"wait! If my phone dies, can you charge it again?!" 

"I regret everything,” the villain groaned, though he was smiling. 

“I don’t have powers! I can’t do anything cool!” the hero complained.

“You think throwing an office into the ocean is cool?” Silver asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean…” Rhys hesitated, “If I saw a villain in a comic-book do that, I wouldn’t say it wasn't cool?" 

They locked gazes for a moment until the villain faltered and rolled his eyes. 

"Give me your phone,” he sighed in mock annoyance, extending his hand. 

As it turns out, he could charge a phone.


	27. Sleep Paralysis Short

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did I manage to make sleep paralysis fluffy? the world may never know

The hero's eyes snapped open at the noise in their room, and were horrified to see a shadow move.

Villain.

Although, villain was a fairly loose term for the particular person in front of them. They were more of an antihero if anything. They had even worked together more then once in the past.

They weren't exactly scared of this villain. They didn't think they would hurt them without serious reason. That didn't mean the hero trusted them either.

They willed their body to move, but it wouldn't listen. They wanted to scream but their lips wouldn't budge. They strained to do something, anything more then move their eyes, but they couldn't.

The villain glanced over to them and immediately froze in place. Their eyes narrowed as they looked at the hero. The hero's eyes tracked them as they took two side steps.

"You're not asleep," the villain stated with slight confusion, "your eyes are following me," they explained, taking a step forward, watching the heros gaze track them as they did, "so why are you just laying there?"

The villains eyes narrowed, studying the hero in front of them who was tucked into bed, laying on their side towards them.

"Ohhhh," they exclaimed, tilting their head, "sleep paralysis huh?"

The hero glanced away for a second before returning to the villains face, some form of confirmation.

"Ah," the villain returned, "well, then I guess I can put this away huh?" They asked, gesturing with the knife in one of their hands, which they had pulled out on instinct when first realizing the hero was awake.

The hero's eyes hardened.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," they replied, sheathing their weapon "but no need to worry, I'm actually only here for this," they continued, walking over to the hero's desk and picking up a file off the top.

They turned back towards the hero before sighing, "this is so weird," they said with a small smirk as they began walking towards the hero, "you being awake yet so quiet, considering you usually never shut up,"

The hero rolled their eyes, causing the villain to laugh.

The villain crouched down in front of them, tilting their head as they examined the hero's face. The hero glanced away, wanting to squirm under the gaze, but unable to. The problem was the villain wasn't looking at them like one would expect. They wore an almost fond expression.

"Blink twice for yes. Is this a normal thing for you?"

The hero blinked twice.

"Hmm," the villain hummed, giving an sympathetic almost smile.

Slowly they reached forward, before gently tucking a strand of hair behind the hero's ear.

"Your pretty cute like this you know? All cozy and snuggled up and not trying to kill me,"

The hero could feel themselves blush. They tried to glare, which only caused the villain to laugh.

"Alright, I'm off, go back to sleep," they said as they stood up. They leaned down, kissing the top of the hero's head, "sweet dreams," they whispered before turning and heading back out the window they came from.


	28. Don't (Ticklish Villain)

"Don't" the villain squeaked as they struggled to free themselves. Unfortunately, the hero had them well and truly pinned.

"Don't what?" The hero teased from where they straddled the villains waist. They raised both their hands to wiggle their fingers playfully, "don't tell me you're ticklish?"

The villain's eyes widened and they shook their head, trying to free their hands where they were pinned underneath the hero's knees.

"No of course not," the hero drawled in amusement, "then I guess you won't mind if I test that theory?"

"Th-that's not necessary," the villain replied stubbornly, a blush appearing on their face.

The hero smirked, lowering their hands to lightly drag their fingers down the villains sides.

The villain below them froze, biting their lip as they tried to keep from laughing.

It wasn't until the hero began to wiggle their fingers along the villains sides gently and keeping their giggles in was becoming a struggle

The hero only needed to speed up a tad more to push the villain over the edge into quiet yet frantic giggles.

It was adorable

"What was that about not being ticklish?" The hero teased. They made sure to keep the tickling light, just enough to keep the villain giggling. The hero didn't actually want to torture the villain by pushing them into that thrashing, can't breath type of laughter.

"Okahahay! You made your point!!" The villain managed through the giggles, "stohohop nohohoww!"

"But you laugh is so sweet and cute! And you don't laugh enough as it is!"

"Thihihis is cruel!!" The villain squeaked.

The giggles died down as the hero lightened their touch even more to just simply drawing slow circles on the villains sides, enough to keep them squirming while still letting them catch their breath.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much," the hero commented before moving their hands off the others sides completely, instead setting them on the ground, supporting themselves as they leaned over the villain, "you have such a cute smile," the commented, voice and expression almost sickly fond and adoring as they looked down at the other.

The villains face lit up red for a completely different reason now and they looked away, unable to meet the gaze of the hero looming above them.

"Aweee now you blushing!"

"Shut up," the villain huffed, tugged at their hands that were still stuck under the villains knees, "That was mean,"

"Oh please, you had fun, I know because your still smiling,"

Oh crap, they were.

"Besides," the hero continued, lifting their knees momentarily to free the villains hands before settling back down and leaning closer to the other, "I'm sure there's some way I can make it up to you,"

"mmm, you better,"

With that the hero leaned down the rest of the way, meeting the villains lips with theirs.

They kissed for a long moment, until suddenly in one swift motion the villain flipped them, now straddling the hero's waist.

The hero was to caught up in kissing to realize at first, but then they noticed their hands were pinned under the villains knees.

The villain hummed, smirking in amusement at whatever expression of realization was on the hero's face. They raised their hands, wiggling their fingers playfully at the other.

The hero tensed beneath them.

"Don't,"


	29. Tell Me Twice

The villain shivered slightly at the feeling of the cold stone wall against their back. Even through their suit they could feel the cold, the sensation only amplified by how flustered they were currently.

"Mmm, you look so cute when you blush," the hero drawled, leaning their weight onto one hand next to the villain's head against the wall, while the other trailed featherlight over the villains hot cheekbone down to their jaw until it ended under their chin, where they tilted the other's head up slightly.

The villain swallowed, trying desperately to regain their composure.

The hero was so close they could barely think straight.

"What's the matter darling? You're usually so talkative. Now suddenly your voice doesn't work?" They teased, somehow leaning in ever so slightly closer, thumb pulling on the villains bottom lip slightly, teasingly.

Scrap barely, they couldn't think straight at all.

The villain pinned their eyes shut, turning their head away and out of the hero's grip, trying to get their thoughts going again. But the hero was so close. They could feel the heat radiating from the other, they could smell their shampoo and feel their breath and it was clouding all their senses.

"Well if you're going to give me an invitation like that..." the hero muttered before leaning in to the villains neck, which had now been exposed when they turned their head. The villains breath hitched, as they felt the kiss on their neck beneath their ear. Suddenly the villain felt like they couldn't get enough air, only capable of short half breaths as their heart pounded.

"H-hero-" they managed to squeak breathlessly, "why-"

"Because you're adorable?" The hero hummed into the villains neck, vibrations across their skin making them squirm.

There has always been this... _thing_ between them. This tension they never mentioned, but was obvious to anyone who bothered to look. The lingering touches, gentle gazes, purposely letting the other "slip" away, just so they could do it all again. It was this unspoken thing. The villain wasn't sure what to do with it on the surface.

"Do you want me to stop?" The hero asked, moving to pull away. Automatically the villains hand shot out to grasp the front of the hero's costume, using it to prevent them from pulling away. They could hear the hero's light chuckle at their actions.

"If you really mean this..." the villain replied, every atom in their body going into keeping their voice steady. They swallowed before continuing, grip on the hero's shirt tightening as they pulled them closer, "then don't you _dare_ stop now,"

The hero hummed, leaning back in before nipping at the villains ear, earning them a small gasp, "Don't have to tell me twice,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In surgery recovery mode! For anyone curious, it went well! Now Im just healing up :)


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